Schemer or Dreamer? A Conversation with Steve Walsh

Steve Walsh, the singer for Kansas, is without a shadow of a doubt one of the premier performers in Rock N' Roll. His soaring vocals and highly energetic style still manage to amaze people even after 30 years of performing. No one can express emotion through a song like Steve Walsh can; every single note he sings comes straight from his soul. As a fan, I've always wondered who Steve Walsh the man is. On July 22, 2000, just before Kansas went on stage in front of a crowd of thousands of screaming fans, I had a chance to find out...

Kansas had been out on tour with Yes for about a month by the time the tour got to Hartford, CT. So far, it had been a very successful tour that allowed Kansas to not only showcase material from their glorious past, but also from their latest album, Somewhere To Elsewhere, which marked a reunion of the band's original lineup. Needless to say, I was not the only one that was looking forward to the band's performance.

Backstage at the Meadows Music Centre, an upbeat and seemingly relaxed Steve Walsh greets us with a smile on his face. After pleasantries are exchanged, the much anticipated conversation begins.

HoS: How's the tour going?
Steve: It's going real well. Everyone is still speaking to each other. (laughs) No big blowups. The set seems to be catching people at the right place.

HoS: How's the crowd response? Is it a Yes crowd? Have they been responsive?
Steve: It depends on the market. Some markets, yes, they respond, some markets it's the Wayward Son, Dust in the Wind crowd, but sometimes early on, we'll get a crowd that's responsive.

HoS: I think there's a lot of people who like both of you.
Steve: I would say you're right.

HoS: If you could sum up your feelings on Somewhere To Elsewhere in one word, what would it be?
Steve: (Pauses to think) Hope.

HoS: What's your favorite song on Somewhere To Elsewhere?
Steve: Ah...The Coming Dawn, but it was sung on the wrong microphone. It should have been sung on my microphone and it wasn't.

HoS: You're not totally happy with it?
Steve: That's one of the things that I regret is that I sang that song in particular on the wrong mic.

HoS: It's still a great song. What's your favorite Kansas song?
Steve: I'm so subjective that I have a hard time having favorite Kansas songs. I'd say Icarus, the one off of Masque. I really like that song and I think Kerry really nailed it.

HoS: Let's talk about Glossolalia, your new album. What musical vision can we expect from it?
Steve: What I'm trying to do on that album, is write from other places besides anger. Now, anger is definitely one place that I visit. In the past, it's been a place where I kinda hung my hat. On Glossolalia, I sought to feel other things and to write about those other emotions: Loss, regret...just a lot of different places.

HoS: Having your first child?
Steve: Olivia (Steve's nine-month old daughter) didn't really influence my writing that much, but my wife did. I feel like I've gone through some real shit in my life and the reason I've come out the other side is largely due to my wife. I got popped a couple of times in the past four years and it was fucking ...ugly! I was going to prison. If it wouldn't have been for this band, if it wouldn't have been for people like Phil (Ehart, Kansas' drummer and manager) going to court with me, telling the judge, "Look, man...not only his livelihood, but the livelihoods of about thirteen families ride on him...please, I know he's fucked up twice, give him one more." That was two and a half years ago. I quit drinking, I quit smoking, I quit doing anything! I've never felt better in my life. I'm more motivated. Like I said, luckily, this band stood behind me...and my wife did, too.

HoS: Steve, what do you think drove you to say, "Stop. This is the end of this!"
Steve: The judge! Nobody else could have ever told me...nobody else. This band knew I was spiraling, everyone knew I was spiraling, but it's like telling a blind man to look at something, you know. There's no way that you could have ever told me I had any problems. Fuck you, you know...I was okay. I was Steve Walsh.

HoS: Weren't you gigging all through the whole thing?
Steve: We were recording Always Never the Same. We were just finishing that up and that's when it happened the second time. The first time, yes. We released Freaks and I was so fuckin' upset because I wasn't flavor of the month any more. I had so much faith in Freaks that I thought, "Man, here we come again! Here we go, the sky's the limit!" When it didn't happen, it was like, "Wait a minute, wait a minute!" I used to be able to trust myself...I used to be able to hear something and go, "Shit, this is going to be it!" I felt like that when I heard Nine Inch Nails for the first time, I felt like that when I heard Tool for the first time. I thought, "Hey! This connects!" I had that feeling on Freaks. I had that feeling and when it didn't go the way I had it planned in my mind...

HoS: Everyone I know that heard it went out and bought it, but radio is just different now. Do you think lack of exposure or the record label hurt you?
Steve: Hey, you know, you can point the finger in all kinds of different places and there's not really an answer. I mean, what happened, happened. I'm busy living today.

HoS: Do you feel like that about Somewhere To Elsewhere..."Here we go again?"
Steve: I'm cautiously optimistic, but I've kind of learned a few lessons, too.

HoS: Going back to what you said about Nine Inch Nails and Tool, is that your musical taste these days? Can we expect a little bit of that on your new album?
Steve: Along with other things. I mean, I think Kate Bush released one of the coolest albums of all time with Hounds of Love. I mean, in Keyboard magazine, Greg Rule referred to a song that he heard as a little bit of Nine Inch Nails so, yes, I won't say that it isn't there, but to say that it is is just kind of misleading because at one moment maybe I am, but in the next, I don't think I am. But, yes, Trent (Reznor) is fucking awesome!

HoS: Is it going to be a classic Steve Walsh album? I heard you're putting your voice through a digeridoo. What I mean is, are you singing in the high range, what can we expect...classic Steve Walsh or a blend of both?
Steve: All right, let me say this about that word "classic": It makes it sound like I'm trying to repeat myself. When I sat down to write this that was the main thing that I got across to Trent Gardner who helped me incredibly. Without him, I wouldn't have had this album because he was really the force behind it, 'cause I was on the road so much.

HoS: Is he playing on it?
Steve: Yeah, a lot!

HoS: Who's drumming on the album?
Steve: Virgil Donati. He's a Magna Carta drummer.

HoS: How about bass?
Steve: Billy Greer.

HoS: He ain't bad. (Laughs) Mike Slamer?
Steve: Yeah, Mike's playing guitar and he mixed it, also.

HoS: Besides keyboards and vocals, are you playing anything else?
Steve: No, keyboards can replicate anything now.

HoS: Yeah, I've seen you do your vibe (vibraphone) stuff on keys and it sounds excellent.
Steve: Yeah, you know, when I was young and impetuous, I figured that I could learn...I told my parents, "Just let me play guitar!" but they wouldn't do it, so...I wish I was a guitarist, I'd get all the chicks! (laughs)

HoS: (Laughs) Any backing vocals or anything else from Trent?
Steve: No, all the vocals are mine.

HoS: We're not complaining!
Steve: The thing about it is, it's just really hard for me to describe what it is that you'll be listening to. It's just really hard for me to put it in words, but if you just know that I'm proud of it and that it represents where I was about a year ago, I think that's about all I can say.

HoS: No need to ask any more, then. As a singer and songwriter, what inspires you?
Steve: A movie...a book. One of the songs on Glossolalia...it's called Kansas, as a matter of fact...I read this book called One Thousand White Women. In 1875, President Grant sought to assimilate the Native Americans into the white race, so he told Sitting Bull that he would give that nation one thousand white women if they would just go to the reservation and hang. It's a book taking one of their viewpoints; one of the women's viewpoints and it's pretty awesome! Another song off Glossolalia is Smackin' the Clowns and it's about in 1944, not very far from here, there was a fire at a Ringling Brothers circus. Many people were burned alive and many more were hurt. That was in '44. Where was that? Stamford. That's where I think it was.

HoS: Yeah, I've heard about that.
Steve: Anyway, I read the story and I wrote a song about the viewpoint of one of the kids that might've been there. There's another book called White Oleander that's real good that I want to write something about. It was an Oprah book if you can believe that. (laughs) Really! I mean, she picks some great books!

HoS: Are you a member of Oprah's book club? Please say no! (laughs)
Steve: Well, my wife watches it, you see, and she'll go buy the book and sometimes she'll come to me and go, "You know, I think you'd be interested in this particular book." Well, she's been right all along. Every time she asks me to read a book, it's great.

HoS: Have you ever considered writing a book about yourself, your life with Kansas?
Steve: I just finished a screenplay and nobody's buying it so, NO! (big laughs)

HoS: I don't have any money, man! (laughs) Speaking of money, how much would it take to bribe you to do a headstand tonight? (laughs)
Steve: Man, I'm tellin' ya...what happens when you do that... once in a while, your head will hit the LED display on the synth and crack the shit out of it and then nothing works!

HoS: How many times have you done that, just once?
Steve: A couple! And getting Kurzweil to send you something like that out on the road...is impossible!

HoS: What if you're real careful? (laughs)
Steve: You can't be careful. When you do that, you throw caution to the wind! Plus, now I can't grow any hair here (points to top of forehead), so I'm growing it here (pulls on beard) so I can transplant it! (big laughs)

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