Dorothy may not be in Kansas anymore, but the same cannot be said for Ronnie Platt.
If it were not for the Midwestern work ethic and sweat equity in clubs that dotted the small-town heartland, Kansas, the band, would have been swept away in a tornado decades ago and Platt would be—well, doing exactly what he’s doing anyway—singing “Carry On, Wayward Son” to audiences who know every word.
“It’s surreal to me,” the singer and keyboardist said, noting he sang the song for years in cover bands before taking over the center microphone in Kansas. “It’s quite an elevation, quite a step up. Playing for 21,000 Kansas fans—talk about living the dream.”
As a workaday Midwestern musician of a certain age, Platt made a career of doing whatever the job required. As it happens, that oftentimes meant covering the work of groups like Kansas.
The state-named band (founded during a period when most were going for city monikers) was formed in Topeka in 1970. Fusing the boogie rock of the decade with a mix of ambitious musical themes, philosophical leanings and acoustic sensibility (even incorporating a violin), Kansas created a subgenre that might be called progressive folk-rock, for lack of a better term.
“There are songs that have a boogie-woogie feel. You also hear a lot of classical influence,” Platt said. “When you mesh the two together, it really comes up with a unique element.”
After years in the trenches of countless heartland-based bands, Platt was called to Kansas in 2014 when original lead singer Steve Walsh retired. In a world where hard work and “feel” meant more than anything else, Platt was an easy choice for the sustaining band and its loyal fans alike.
“I’ve been lucky,” the singer said. “I think I was in my first band in seventh or eighth grade. I started playing in bars when I was 18, 17 maybe—sorry, mom. I’ve never gone without being in a band, so it’s conditioned in me. It’s prepared me well for my stint in Kansas.”
Platt even had a tangential connection to Rock Star, the 2001 movie that starred Mark Wahlberg as a tribute band’s lead vocalist who is suddenly called to the real McCoy when his emulated band fires its singer. In a sort of quasi-coincidence, Platt was asked by Survivor’s Jim Peterik to take the lead vocals on a song written for the film.
“I went in to sing it, and it was a submission for the movie,” Platt said. “Unfortunately, the song did not make the movie.”
Instead, in a case of life imitating would-be art, Platt got the real-life gig with Kansas—though Platt, unlike Wahlberg’s character, was a professional musician who had worked the Midwest trenches for decades, both in bar bands and for a time as the latter-day singer for Kansas City’s Shooting Star, the first U.S. group to sign with the then-burgeoning U.K. label, Virgin Records.
Colorado will get a chance to judge for itself Thursday, April 18, when Kansas, as fronted by Platt, plays the Paramount Theater.
Although the original Kansas got off to a slow start in the early 70s, the band would eventually rise from album-rock slumber into major hits and radio airplay. The band’s fourth album, Leftoverture, made the Top 10, producing the anthemic, “Carry On Wayward Son,” whose fragile anti-heroism channeled everything from Vietnam to mental illness.
The follow-up, Point of Know Return, boasted not just the keyboard-hooked title hit, but the signature, “Dust in the Wind,” the song that gave futility new life in poetry. All of this was stuck between cartoonish album covers that suggested the Sistine Chapel gone amok.
A series of musical and religious differences would splinter the band several times over the years with singer Walsh, guitarist Richard Williams and drummer Phil Ehart as the band’s most consistent mainstays. With Walsh’s departure, Platt made a difficult entry as the new lead singer.
“At every live show, I’ve always tried to experiment and push my limits,” he said. “But in Kansas, there are certain songs where I really need to pull the reins back on that. Excuse me for showboatin’ every once in awhile. I can’t help it.”
As Kansas continues its 40th anniversary celebration of Leftoverture by performing the album in its entirety on tour, the rejuvenated lineup has reinvigorated the enduring band to release The Prelude Implicit, its first album of new material in 16 years.
The burden of doing justice to the recent and older material, as the new guy in the band, is never lost on Platt. But when the singer endeavors to make the Denver show the best it can be, it will be Colorado—not Kansas—that’s putting on most of the stress.
Not to worry—he won’t get too wayward as he carries on.
“My family would kill me. I’ve got family in Denver,” Platt said. “There’s added pressure there.”
Kansas will perform April 18 at the Paramount Theater. For more information, call 303-623-0106 or visit paramountdenver.com or kansasband.com. Contact Peter Jones at pjoneslifemusic@aol.com.
