Interview with David Ragsdale of Kansas (Part One)
My most recent feature interview for We Will Rock You is with violinist David Ragsdale of Kansas. Ragsdale joined the re-configured Kansas in the Nineties for several years of hard touring that culminated in a live release called Live at the Whiskey, then appeared on the studio album Freaks Of Nature before deciding to leave the band. Ragsdale spent a number of years in Vegas before returning to his role in Kansas.
Since then the band has kept on with a busy schedule of touring and live releases, but Kansas has been frustrated in its desire to move forward with a new studio album by the non-participation of its two principal writers, Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh. As a means of continuing with new material, Ragsdale and three of his Kansas cohorts - drummer Phil Ehart, bassist/singer Billy Greer, and guitarist Rich Williams - have recently released a side project called Native Window. The new material is more straightforward than Kansas, emphasizing shorter songs with fewer musical embellishments, rather than simply a Kansas album without Steve Walsh. Native Window is opening for Kansas on tour this summer.
I spoke to David Ragsdale on Tuesday, July 22nd by phone from his home in Atlanta. He was very different from what I expected; I suppose because he plays the violin, I had imagined that he would be a gravely serious interview. Instead, Ragsdale is a remarkably down-to-earth, unpretentiousy affable fellow, easy to talk to and a lot of fun.
In this first segment we talk about Native Window opening for Kansas; how Native Window came about; why there is no plan for a new Kansas album; writing process for the Native Window record; the role of producer Steve Rawls; recording process for the record; and the differences between Native Window and Kansas.
Special thanks to Jennifer Farhood at Chipster PR for arranging this interview, and to David Ragsdale for his time and observations.
Stay tuned for Part Two, which I will post Friday.
Is David Ragsdale related to Randy Ragsdale of Cross Canadian Ragweed, if so will/has he worked with CCR?