Artist Spotlight: Kansas
Kansas came out of America’s heartland in the 1970s to show the music world that the British didn’t have exclusive rights to the term “progressive rock.” This subgenre of rock music began growing in popularity in the late 1960s, and the Oxford Companion to Music says it featured “extended musical structures which involved intricate instrumental patterns and textures and often esoteric subject matter.” In its early years, prog rock was populated primarily by British bands, such as Pink Floyd, Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With the release of Kansas’ self-titled debut album in 1974, the self-proclaimed “garage band” from…
