Kansas lead singer talks excursions, Festival at Sandpoint and ‘Dust within the Wind’

After almost 12 years with the band, Ronnie Platt nonetheless finds himself awestruck night time after night time performing with Kansas.

With the passage of time comes deserved retirements and lots of legendary bands discovering new lead vocalists, akin to Tommy DeCarlo with Boston and Arnel Pineda with Journey. But Kansas’ present lead vocalist has an open problem for any of them – with utmost respect, in fact.

“I know I belong to a very exclusive club … these iconic bands that have gotten, dare I say, ‘replacement singers,’ or I should say singers that ‘carried on’ the music – no pun intended. Yes, pun intended,” Platt stated, referencing the band’s smash hit, “Carry On Wayward Son.”

“I will challenge any of those guys to see if they were a bigger fan of the band they’re singing for, as I am a fan of Kansas.”

Platt cites movies from the Eighties that may nonetheless be discovered on YouTube as proof. Even 4 a long time in the past, Platt was belting deep-cut B-sides of the band he took over for in 2014. Over the years, he carried out with varied bands that tried to correctly cowl the long-lasting rock group with various levels of success.

“That’s just how big of a Kansas fan I’ve always been, and to find myself in the position that I am, it’s surreal and it’s like winning the lottery consecutively three times,” Platt stated. “I’ll be at home with my old friends from high school, and they’re like, ‘You know you’re the lead singer of Kansas, right?’ And for them to say that to me, it’s still surreal.”

When he first joined the group, Platt hoped to get no less than three years and a strong handful of exhibits with Kansas. Almost instantly, he realized simply how naive he had been.

In 2015 alone, the band performed 98 exhibits. In early 2016, they then spent six weeks in an Atlanta studio slicing a brand new album, “The Prelude Implicit,” earlier than leaping proper again on the street to play 99 exhibits all year long. Beyond the exception of the pandemic period, Kansas has not carried out fewer than 60 exhibits a yr.

“It was something that I was naive to, not prepared for, but, boy, time flies when you’re having fun, right?” Platt stated. “This year, we’re possibly shooting for somewhere in the 90s or low 90s. Not bad for a band that’s been around over 50 years!”

Although ending the night time with “Carry On Wayward Son” brings a sure degree of vitality from every crowd, Platt typically finds himself essentially the most emotional throughout “Dust in the Wind.”

On one finish, Platt is nicely conscious of the sheer dimension of the track that has been licensed platinum 3 times over and is featured in seemingly numerous motion pictures, exhibits and commercials. But there’s additionally one thing about witnessing viewers members shed tears to such an impactful track that Platt doesn’t take as a right.

“It’s an amazing thing to be a part of that,” Platt stated. “It’s an amazing impact … it’s flattering, and I love every second of it.”

Although such an intensive schedule with so many stops yearly (such because the band’s present at Spokane Tribe Casino on Friday night time) could make it troublesome to recollect anybody location, Platt recollects their Festival at Sandpoint efficiency final August very nicely.

For one, he was blown away by the “fantastic” opening band, Spokane’s personal “talented bunch of kids,” Vika and the Velvets. And earlier than occurring stage later that night time, Platt determined to trigger a “little mischief” by roaming by the viewers and making dialog whereas attempting to not be found.

“What nice people up there, and it’s so beautiful to be standing on that stage and looking out at the mountains in the distance,” Platt stated. “I would love to do that show again.”