Out today (July 17th) is Kansas' 16th studio set, The Absence Of Presence. The album, which marks the band's first new album since 2016's The Prelude Implicit, had been delayed by a couple of weeks due to manufacturing issues.
Leading Kansas these days are co-founders Phil Ehart on drums and guitarist Rich Williams, who are supplemented by singer-keyboardist Ronnie Platt and new member, keyboardist Tom Brislin.
Phil Ehart looked back nearly 45-years-ago and recalled to us when he and Kansas first realized that Leftoverture just might be a hit: “When we heard '. . . Wayward Son,' once it was finished and listened back to, we all kinda looked at each other and went, 'Y'know, this could be something very special. This could possibly do something no other song has done.' Of course, as soon as it got out there, it just exploded. So, we had a little bit of a feeling, but there was no slam dunks with Kansas, ever. There never has been. We did feel very strongly (laughs) about 'Dust In The Wind'; we thought, 'That should do well on the radio' — and of course, it did.”