Photograph courtesy of David Carstens
As America’s preeminent progressive rock band embarks on 50 performances, MeTV had the privilege to interview KANSAS’ Billy Greer and Wealthy Williams, bassist and guitar participant, respectively. The “One other Fork within the Highway” Tour celebrates 50 unimaginable years of indelible music, highlighting crowd favorites like “Carry On, Wayward Son,” and “Mud within the Wind.”
Billy Greer has been the bassist for KANSAS since 1985. Previous to the tour’s cease on the Chicago Theater, Billy answered our questions on humor, becoming in, and audition nerves partly 4 of our interview.
Billy, I learn in an interview that you just stated a reasonably widespread false impression about KANSAS is that you just’re a really severe band. Who’s the funniest band member in KANSAS?
Richard. He and Invoice are kinda like a comedy writing crew. Like Stiller and Meara or one thing. They only feed off one another. They get into some wacky stuff typically. I’m often left in a puddle of tears crying, from laughing so laborious. Once they begin — even in entrance of individuals, typically — they pull a few of the nastiest methods of all time, stuff that they’ve carried out since highschool. I received’t even get into, simply issues that make individuals cringe. They’re a comedy crew. They may very well be TV comedy writers, I feel. Wealthy has undoubtedly bought the funniest and most-warped humorousness.
Once you linked up with them within the ‘80s, did it really feel such as you had been hopping on a practice that had already left the station years in the past? Or did you kinda mix in such as you did musically?
I used to be all the time a fan of KANSAS, from the primary time I heard their music on the radio within the early ‘70s, once they first got here out. I hooked into that. The copy band I used to be taking part in in, the membership band, we lined a pair — or three KANSAS songs. So, I performed “Carry On” greater than anyone in KANSAS ever has, as a result of I used to be taking part in it 5, six units an evening, in each set, often. 5 – 6 nights every week. I’ve had a lot respect for them.
I’d gotten into extra progressive rock music like Genesis and Sure — grew to become an enormous Sure fan — and Light Big. So, the quilt bands I used to be taking part in in had been doing covers from these bands. We had been coloring outdoors the strains with these bands. I used to be simply honored to be part of it, I didn’t understand how for much longer it was going to go. Plus, I used to be in a position to — I joined concurrently Steve Morse, and when you’re aware of Steve Morse, that Steve is without doubt one of the finest guitarists on the planet, and has been acknowledged so by Guitar Participant Journal. 5 years in a row he was voted “Greatest All Round Guitar Participant.” He was lastly retired into the Corridor of Fame.
So he joined on the identical time, which was form of intimidating for me, however because it turned out, he was such a pleasant man, such a candy man. We grew to become actually good buddies, and I simply discovered a lot from taking part in with him and being within the band with him. So, I’m a greater individual and a greater musician for it.
So, it wasn’t like there have been numerous inside jokes and also you had been the one one on the skin.
Precisely.
I learn that it was the case for you — because it in all probability is with numerous musicians — that once you auditioned for KANSAS, you had been requested to improvise. I wished to get kinda into the weeds with that. Is {that a} second the place you’re acutely aware of, and laboring over, every resolution, every be aware? Or is that one thing the place you go into auto-pilot, and simply form of blackout in that second?
I blacked out, but it surely wasn’t KANSAS although, it was Streets. Steve Walsh, requested me to-
Thanks, thanks.
Yeah, yeah! He had me right down to the audition, and he simply stated “I’d like to listen to you improvise one thing right here.” To me, in my reminiscence — I’m undecided what it seemed like, however in my reminiscence — it seemed like an fool
That couldn’t have been the case.
I’m positive it wasn’t the case. We didn’t even do the 4 songs he requested me to be taught for the audition. After two songs, he stated to me “Let’s go to lunch.” They usually took me to lunch, and he requested me to hitch the band. I used to be such a praise, vocally to Steve, as a result of I had, on the time, just about as excessive a variety as Steve did, and an analogous timbre to my voice. So, I might cowl for him and do the excessive stuff, the place he didn’t need to cowl all that stuff evening after evening. It allowed us to do extra exhibits in a row with out Steve shedding his voice. It took the stress off of him, even once we got here again to KANSAS, the identical factor was true. I’d be doing the excessive elements that he’d usually carried out on the albums, or in earlier years when KANSAS had toured.
It sounds such as you had been, and proceed to be the proper match. Do you are feeling that KANSAS, sonically, could have been pulled towards Tennessee, having any person from outdoors of that Topeka bubble within the combine?
I don’t suppose so, I don’t suppose I had that huge of an affect so far as the sound. I’ve all the time been a mockingbird. I can hear one thing and replicate it. So, that’s kinda like I used to be. In the event you had heard me — I used to be having a superb snigger with Mike Slamer the opposite evening. Mike was the guitar participant from the band Streets, and Mike’s from Birmingham, England. He’s a Brit. He really performed with — they had been form of a quasi-progressive band referred to as Metropolis Boy again within the ‘70s. They’d successful that did effectively right here, and he bought to return over. He had really labored — his band was produced by Mutt Lange, which is a giant feather in his cap.
Mike was instrumental — he discovered so much from Mutt. Mutt did three albums together with his band Metropolis Boy, so Mike discovered so much, and he introduced numerous that to the studio when Streets was within the studio. He had numerous affect in the way in which that album was produced, and the sounds that we bought. And I’ve labored with Mike since then on a mission referred to as Seventh Key and recorded a few albums. And it’s superb what Mike does in a house studio, in a storage, in LA, the place he lives. However, what a proficient man, what an amazing guitar participant he’s.
