Well my friends, it's been a long time since I first met the guys in the band on a cold day in December of 1986. As many of you have obviously heard, my time to work with the group of guys who call themselves "Kansas" is coming to an end. For ten years I have spent more time living on the road with these people than I have spent with my family, and as you might expect, I have grown to feel that they are my family as well. My love of music and of these people has always been tempered by the knowledge that nothing like this lasts forever, and as I watch my son approach the ripe old age of twelve, I realize that I've missed more of his and his sister's lives than I've been able to enjoy. Unfortunately, they refuse to stop growing up until I'm ready to quit touring, so I have decided to quit touring before they grow up.
The places I've been, and the people I've met and played for are, and always will be, a part of me until the day I die. I can't count the number of times that your smiling faces and cheering voices were the only thing that kept me and the guys going those times when we were sick and tired in mind, body and heart. There is no bigger Kansas fan among any of you than myself, and to those of you who have longed for the original lineup in vain and maybe even resented us "new guys", I can only point out that if Phil, Steve, and Rich had felt the same way, there would be quite a lot of songs and memories that never would have been. The original band that existed did so at the only moment that it was possible; not only for the wonderful music that was created, but for that specific point and time in each bandmembers' life. At any other time or place, that group of people would not have been what it was, and I think I'm not alone in being thankful that it happened even once. You can't look back with regret at the past, rather; look back with a smile about just being even a small part of the experience. It would be way too easy to feel sorry for myself and dwell on works and dreams that might have been and now may never be. There are ideas, moments, and even complete songs that we were never able to present to the public, and that's the only regret I really have. The guys in the band, my musical family, and I head our different ways as great friends.
After all this time and the necessary proximity that road life dictates, I
find that fact pretty darn amazing. Oddly enough, I've never been able to
see a Kansas concert. The band never played in Louisiana very much, and
when they did I was usually working myself; so one of the things I look
forward to is seeing my first Kansas concert. There are a few shows that
the current membership has yet to perform, and I will of course be in my
normal spot until the guys have a chance to reconfigure. By the time next
touring season rolls around, you can bet that Kansas will be alive and
kicking, and probably better than ever. To the people who commented on how
little I smiled when on stage, I would like to point out that when both your
hands, both your feet, and your voice are all in use simultaneously,
concentration is a must and trying to cover multiple parts sometimes
contributed to the difficulty of the whole deal, and between numb hands,
pain, and fatigue, some nights were tougher than others. Just because I
couldn't look and smile, don't think I didn't know you were there. You
guys were the only reason all of us were there on more than one occasion, and
you mean more than you could possibly know. It was "suggested" by a friend
that I show the common decency to say something to the people who have (for
the most part) supported the band for so long, and so this note is a result
of that rather aggressive, one-sided insistence.
Greg Robert,
Kansas
Keyboards 1986-96