The year was 1973 and Phil Ehart knew that this was going to be an important gig. Perhaps the most important that the drummer and his fledgling group with the unlikely name of Kansas would play to date.
After all, the unsolicited demo cassette they had mailed to famed producer/TV host Don Kirshner’s record company had somehow made it out of the slush pile to the hands and ears of an A&R scout. Who was now interested in flying in from New York to check them out in concert (and this after the group was initially told the complete opposite—that the label was passing on them).
They wanted to impress the scout, and their current gig at a small dive bar near their homebase of Topeka would not suffice. So, they rented out a larger opera house—three hours away.
And to ensure there would be a sizable crowd, the admission would only be a quarter. Oh, and there would be something else, heavily advertised: FREE BEER. For everyone. All night long.
Well, Kansas packed the house to a large, enthusiastic, and thoroughly sozzled audience. The scout—who had hoisted a few himself—was duly impressed. And Kansas would secure a record contract that began a classic rock journey that is still going strong more than 50 years later.
Ehart’s tales of the (recording) tape, his Kansas journey, and topics of faith and family are detailed in his autobiography written with Paul Braoudakis, I Am Phil (333 pg., $40, Whirlwind Publishing).
As the son in a military family, young Phil would find himself moving over and over again to where his father’s work took him. Stuck in the house during a stint in the Philippines during monsoon season, he was given a snare drum to occupy his time.
However, after a single 30-minute lesson, his instructor declared that the boy already possessed “natural rhythm” and there was nothing more he could teach. It would be the only musical lesson Phil Ehart would ever have before he began to play in rock bands.
Like a Prog Rock Avengers assembling, each of the six-man Kansas band fell into place. Ehart writes about touring and recording the albums—and hit singles like “Dust in the Wind,” “Carry On Wayward Son,” “Point of Know Return,” and “Play the Game Tonight.” His remembrances of their commercial heyday years aren’t especially revealing, though, and the book could have benefitted from more anecdotes and opinions.
Eventually, the conversion of two band members to a robust Christianity (and the influence it was now having on lyrical content of guitarist Kerry Livgren, one of the band’s two main songwriters) caused friction.
Though it would be singer/keyboardist Steve Walsh who would leave first. Ehart drops a tantalizing tidbit about two singers who auditioned to replace him that were good enough to be seriously considered: Ted Neeley (the Jesus Christ of 1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar) and…Sammy Hagar. Before he landed in Van Halen to replace their departed lead singer.
Later in the book, Ehart spins more detailed stories about both of his families: biological and musical. The struggles he and his second wife faced with their son’s severe autism; how a trusted financial accountant ended up robbing the entire band of huge amounts of money; when shifting lineups would find original members on and off of stages and studios. And finally, how a near-fatal heart attack in 2024 caused him to reconsider and refocus a lot of things in his life.
He also writes how new media continues to bring new life—and new ears—to Kansas songs—and one in particular. “Carry On Wayward Son” experienced revivals after it appeared in the video game Guitar Hero II and later, featured prominently in the TV shows Supernatural and Stranger Things.
And just a few weeks ago on an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Jack Black, one skit shows how the only thing that could bond a disparate group of husbands meeting for the first time was…a group singalong to “Carry On Wayward Son!”
I Am Phil ends with the author confronting a very contemporary Classic Rock conundrum: When is a band no longer “the band” and becomes what some dismiss as a “tribute act?” How many original or classic members need to be onstage to make it “legit?” One? Two? Three? Does it even matter to most of their audiences in 2026, especially for a group where many fans would be hard pressed to actually name a single member?
Ehart brings this up because the active participation of himself and guitarist Rich Williams, has morphed over the years to less permanency and consistency, up to their upcoming summer tour with .38 Special and Brother Cane. And quite understandably, as the men who wrote and played all those classic songs 50 or so years ago are now in their 70s and 80s.
Ultimately, he argues, it’s the songs that matter. That live on. That people want to experience whether it’s the original recording or recent live performance. “Kansas is a band” is a saying that has been with the group since the very beginning, and as their founding drummer (and longtime manager!) makes clear in this book, the band plays on.
For more on Phil Ehart or to order I Am Phil, visit PhilEhart.net.
For more on Kansas, visit KansasBand.com.
