News and Guts Media/AXS TVThree members of Kansas are the guests on the latest installment of the Dan Rather-hosted AXS TV series The Big Interview, which premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. In the episode, founding drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Richard Williams, along with current lead singer/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, chat about various aspects of the prog-rock group’s long history.
In an exclusive preview clip provided to ABC Radio, Ehart discusses the challenge Kansas has faced as it’s undergone numerous lineup changes.
“As members started to change, Richard and I would always kinda sit there and look at each other, and go, ‘Well, is this gonna keep going? We’re like the last guys standing,'” Phil notes. “But then we came to the realization that Kansas is not about one person. Kansas is about the music.”
Also in the preview, Platt, who joined Kansas in 2014 after founding frontman Steve Walsh retired from the band, gives “kudos” to Ehart and Williams for “still want[ing] to keep the train rolling [and] still hav[ing] a desire to put out new music.”
Kansas’ latest studio album, 2016’s The Prelude Implicit, was released in 2016.
Also during the new Big Interview episode, the band members talk about the influence of classical music on their work, and share a funny story about how a jealous Steven Tyler once tried — and failed — to sabotage Kansas’ set.
After The Big Interview, AXS TV will screen the 2015 documentary Kansas: Miracles Out of Nowhere, which charts the band’s improbable journey to become one of the biggest rock bands of the late 1970s.
Kansas’ current tour, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of its smash 1977 album Point of Know Return, has been extended into May 2019. Here are all the upcoming dates:
11/2 — San Antonio, TX, The Tobin Center for Performing Arts
11/3 — Dallas, TX, Majestic Theatre
11/9 — Cincinnati, OH, Taft Theatre
11/10 — Indianapolis, IN, Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
11/16 — Huntington, NY, The Paramount
11/17 — Worcester, MA, Hanover Theatre
11/23 — Wilkes-Barre, PA, The F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
11/24 — Baltimore, MD, Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric
11/30 — Asheville, NC, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
12/1 — Columbia, SC, The Township Auditorium
12/6 — Mobile, AL, Saenger Theatre
12/8 — Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall
12/14 — Daytona Beach, FL, Peabody Auditorium
12/15 — Fort Lauderdale, FL, Au-Rene Theater at Broward Center
2019:
2/14-18 — Departs from Fort Lauderdale, FL, Rock Legends Cruise VII
3/8 — Des Moines, IA, Hoyt Sherman Place
3/9 — Peoria, IL, Peoria Civic Center Theater
3/15 — Salina, KS, The Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts
3/22 — Charleston, WV, Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences
3/23 — Louisville, KY, Louisville Palace Theatre
3/29 — Beaver Creek, CO, Vilar Performing Arts Center
3/30 — Denver, CO, Paramount Theatre
4/2 — Tucson, AZ, Fox Tucson Theatre
4/4 — San Diego, CA, Balboa Theatre
4/6 — Los Angeles, CA, The Orpheum Theatre
4/7 — Santa Barbara, CA, Arlington Theatre
4/10 — Oakland, CA, Paramount Theatre
4/12 — Portland, OR, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
4/13 — Seattle, WA, Paramount Theatre
4/24 — Vancouver, BC, Canada, The Orpheum
4/26 — Edmonton, AB, Canada, Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
4/28 — Calgary, AB, Canada, Jack Singer Concert Hall
4/30 — Saskatoon, SK, Canada, TCU Place
5/1 — Regina, SK, Canada, Conexus Arts Centre
5/3 — Winnipeg, MB, Canada, Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts
5/10 — Rockford, IL, Coronado Performing Arts Center
5/11 — Fort, Wayne, IN, Foellinger Theater
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.