Meeting Phil Ehart (from the band Kansas)

Here's an interesting story from this past weekend:

I am playing bass in the backing band for some friends who call themselves "J3" (www.j3girls.com). The group is comprised of three ladies who have names that start with the letter "J". Their style is mostly country.

Anyway, this past weekend we had the pleasure of being one of the opening acts for national country artist Heidi Newfield. The show was at a Grand Rapids venue known as "The Intersection". We were scheduled to go on at 8pm, and was surprised to find we were given 40 minutes to play. Just after sound check, we were told that an extra artist was added to the evening and would perform an "acoustic" set just before J3. The artist was a guy named Nathan Lee Jackson, and he had two backing musicians. He was scheduled to go on at 7:30pm, and was going to get around 30 minutes. No big deal, and we were happy to see the show get started early anyway.

While hanging out backstage before the show, I got into a conversation with one of Nathan's guitar players. The guy was named Keith, and we were talking about various music topics. At one point, Keith mentions that Nathan's manager had shown up and was standing off to the side talking with the other guitar player. Keith casually mentions the manager is also the drummer for the band Kansas. After the initial shock of this comment, I ask "which Kansas are you talking about?". Keith says "you know, the one from 'Carry on my Wayward son'". I say "Phil Ehart?", and Keith says "Yup, that's Phil". After trying to not offend Keith with my excitement over seeing Phil, I ask Keith if he could introduce me. Keith has no problem with this, and takes me over to meet Phil.

Now, I need to mention that Kansas is one of my all time favorite bands. I have been a fan since the late 70s, and got to see them in concert a few times (first back in 1979). Original member Kerry Livgren has continued to be one of my inspirations, but I do know Phil Ehart is a major factor in the band's existence.

Meeting Phil was a true pleasure for me, and was a surprise I did not expect for the day. I told Phil how I didn't want to come off as "gushy", but that I had been a fan for decades. He was kind and polite, and even let me get a photo with him. I had my wife Michelle take the photo, and then Phil said why not get a photo with him and my wife. Note that my wife is familiar with the band, but isn't a big fan of progressive rock. She didn't mind the fun, but certainly wasn't as familiar with Phil and his involvement with the band.

To continue the show story, Nathan Lee Jackson's set was great and he was also a super nice guy. I was VERY impressed with him, and would recommend his music. The J3 performance went off fine (no major problems), and the crowd seemed to enjoy the girls and their music. They had a decent crowd hanging out back at their merchandise table, after our set. A Detroit based band named "Redhill" performed after J3, and they had a solid set of original country rock. Heidi Newfield was very professional, but seemed a bit "generic".

Here's the two photos with Phil Ehart.












Thanks to Phil for being so accomodating and making a memorable night just a bit more special for me.