Music of Kansas
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For many decades, Kansas has had a vibrant country and bluegrass scene. The Country Stampede Music Festival – one of the largest music festivals in the country – and the bluegrass/acoustic Walnut Valley Festival are testament to the continued popularity of these music genres. Among current country artists, Martina McBride and Chely Wright are natives of the state.
The state has also fostered some rock acts. The one that is most associated with the state is almost certainly the band called Kansas. Melissa Etheridge and Katrina Leskanich, lead singer for Katrina and the Waves, are also native Kansans. Shooting Star, notable for being the first American act signed by Virgin Records, hailed from Overland Park. Gene Clark, founding member of The Byrds, attended high school in Bonner Springs, Kansas and began performing in the state. Dawayne Bailey, a native of Manhattan, Kansas, toured and recorded with rock legends Bob Seger and Chicago.
Some famous jazz musicians also have roots in Kansas, including Coleman Hawkins and Stan Kenton.
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[edit] 1960s: Rock and roll
In the 1960s, blue-eyed soul, R&B and garage rock bands became popular with acts such as the Fabulous Flippers, The Blue Things, the Red Dogs, the Serfs and Mike Finnigan traveling the midwest and releasing regional singles.
[edit] 1980s: Punk rock
In the early 1980s, Topeka and Lawrence, together with Kansas City, Missouri had a significant hardcore punk scene, centered at Lawrence's University of Kansas campus, and later at the Outhouse. Among the most popular bands were The Embarrassment, Mortal Micronotz, Exploding Rodents, The Slabs, Near Death Experience, Orange Doughnuts (The OD's) and Tunnel Dogs, featuring Archer Prewitt, then a student at the Kansas City Art Institute, on drums. The Mortal Micronotz were probably the most famous outside of the area.
[edit] 1990s: Alternative rock
In the 1990s, Kansas produced some bands that found regional and national success taking the predominant Grunge aesthetic and adding a Rockabilly or Country Music twang, a style sometimes grouped into Alternative country.
Paw, out of Lawrence, Kansas became the most well-known of these bands following the 1993 release of their major-label album Dragline. Truck Stop Love, out of Manhattan, Kansas, had a somewhat similar sound and was also signed to a national label, Scotti Brothers Records, with the well-received How I Spent My Summer Vacation being an appropriate swan song.[1] The Moving Van Goghs, also from Manhattan, Kansas, with a psychedelic/rock aesthetic, is also a notable band during the "pre-grunge" time period in the Kansas music scene. Finally, Kill Creek, a Lawrence band since the 1980s period was signed by Mammoth Recordings and achieved critical national attention with two full LPs and an EP.[2] The sound of these bands was comparable to some Neil Young and their out-of-state contemporaries Uncle Tupelo, Dinosaur Jr. (circa 1993), The Jayhawks, and Mule. Other bands from Kansas signed during the same period included Shiner, Season to Risk, and Arthur Dodge and the Horsefeathers.
Late contemporaries included Grither, Zoom, Vitreous Humor, Believe it or Nots, Stick, and Puddle of Mudd.
Early contemporaries included The Pedaljets, a band fronted by Mike Allmayer who later formed Grither. The Pedaljets put out two LPs, "Today Today" (Twilight), "The Pedaljets" (Communion), and one 45 (Throbbing Lobster). Both albums received critical national attention. The Pedaljets toured the US extensively from 1984-1990, often opening for Husker Du, The Flaming Lips, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, the Meat Puppets, and other well known alternative bands of the 1980s.
[edit] References
- Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Los Angeles: Feral House. ISBN 0-92291-571-7.
