PHILADELPHIA, PA. (Top40 Charts/ Chipster PR) - Longtime Kansas fans may have a hard time dealing with the fact that the group's two main songwriters, Steve Walsh (singer/keyboards/synths) and Kerry Livgren (guitar/ keyboards/synths) have stated that they are done writing any more album worth's of new material for the group.
But it's time to rejoice, as Native Window - which is essentially Kansas minus Walsh - will certainly help fill this void, with a self-titled debut, issued June 23rd via StarCity Records (run by Jeff Glixman, who produced some of Kansas best-selling releases).
'It was a bit presumptuous of us to assume we could write a whole CD of music, considering we did not have song one when we started,' explains Kansas/Native Window drummer, Phil Ehart. 'We wrote songs ourselves, collaborated with other writers, and even found some outside songs.'
'Without Steve singing, without keyboards, it is fundamentally different from Kansas right out of the box,' adds guitarist Richard Williams. 'A conscious effort was made to not sound like, write like, or emulate anything Kansas would do. Kansas already does that just fine.'
Produced by Steve Rawls and recorded at Real 2 Reel Studios over a two-year span, the 'new' group (which is comprised of Ehart and Williams, plus singer/bassist Billy Greer, and violinist David Ragsdale) has picked up where Kansas left off musically, especially after judging from the melodic rock anthems heard throughout the disc. And all this happened despite the band members being entirely uncertain what the material would ultimately sound like. 'That was the exciting part...we had no idea what it would sound like! We had one criteria - the song had to sound good acoustically. If it sounded good with just acoustic guitar and vocals, then we developed it from there.'
Questions also arose regarding the group's vocal and lyrical makeup, but once again, everything fell nicely into place. 'We could all carry a tune and sing in pitch, but could we actually sound good together? It took some work to get over the hump of singing harmonies, but once we did, you couldn't shut us up! The lyrics were a total group effort. Someone would have a title, a one liner, a chorus, and the lyrics just sprung from there. Sometimes Billy would have a bunch of lyrical ideas, and we'd brainstorm from there.'
When asked to pick a favorite track of the album, Ragsdale ran into some difficulty limiting it to just one. 'All of them, and why not? Seriously, though, I really like the mood of 'Miss Me' , and how it develops and returns. 'Blood In the Water' makes me grin a bit as well.' Greer offered his own praise about the project, as well. 'The writing and recording process on this project was more rewarding and fun than any I have been involved in a very long time. Vocally, this was one of the most challenging and rewarding CD's I have ever recorded!'
The day after 'Native Window' arrives, the group will be appearing on the renowned nationally syndicated radio show, Rockline - on Wednesday, June 24th - followed by a summer's worth of tour dates, opening up for...Kansas! And for those who wonder how the launching of Native Window sits with the only missing member of Kansas, Ehart is willing to put any speculation to rest. 'Steve has been very supportive of Native Window since it's inception. He has wished us the best since day one.'
