Dust in the Wind: things you may not know about the band Kansas

Topeka, Kansas is where this band was formed. "Dust in the Wind" is one of their most famous songs: "All we are is dust in the wind." But what do you really know about this classic 70s group and its evergreen on the radio?

The band Kansas has been rocking the world for 50 years. To celebrate that fact, it is touring the United States and Canada in 2024.

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Most of the band's original members knew each other from high school. Each started out playing in different groups in the Topeka, Kansas area.

Image: Mary Hammel / Unsplash

In the 70s, the band's founding members gathered in a garage and played under the name 'White Clover.' Later, they changed it to 'Kansas,' referring to the state they lived in and its rich history.

In the image, singer Robby Steinhardt, co-founder of the band in 1973.

The band regularly called attention to the fate of indigenous peoples in the US. Its song 'People of the South Winds' from the album 'Monolith' (1979), for example, pays homage to the Kaw people who developed the name 'Kansas'. In their language, Kansa, the word 'Kansas' roughly means 'People of the South Winds.'

Kansas makes classic rock music, which they've also called 'heartland rock' because it is so typical for the midwestern United States. According to AllMusic, the band fuses "the complexity of British prog-rock with an American heartland sound representative of their name." So despite their foundation in the American Midwest, they were inspired by English progressive rock bands such as King Crimson (photo).

After they were discovered by producer Wally Gold, it took Kansas two years to release their first album in 1974. Titled 'Kansas', it contained songs that were mostly written by band members Kerry Livgren and  Steve Walsh. Initially, the only way to get the album 'Kansas' was directly from the band while they were touring from bar to bar.

The band's albums are characterized by covers filled with metaphors. Kansas itself explains on its website that the cover of 'Point of Know Return' "is the most iconic cover for Kansas." In fact, the group members say, "It is one of the most iconic for anybody".

A reason for the album cover's fame is that it sold millions of copies and got Quadruple Platinum status in the US alone. The album contained 'Dust in the Wind,' a truly American evergreen. According to the website of Kansas, the song has been played on the radio more than three million times.

To many listeners, the lyrics of 'Dust in the Wind' may be reminiscent of Bible verses saying that everything a man accomplishes is "like chasing the wind" (Ecclesiastes) or that people are made of, and will return to, dust (Genesis). However, the song actually has its origins outside of Christianity.

Kerry Livgren (right), the writer of the song, says he got his inspiration from a book of Native American poetry. As he told Acoustic Nation, he found the line "All we are is dust in the wind" in one of the poems. "It really struck me and stuck with me," he said.

Before 'Dust in the Wind,' Kerry Livgren had written another classic song for Kansas. 'Carry on Wayward Son', from the album 'Leftoverture', became a million-selling track in 1976. According to the band itself, the single "continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio."

Just like 'Dust in the Wind,' the lyrics of 'Carry On Wayward Son' have nothing to do with Christian religion. Kerry Livgren says he was simply looking for "something" and expressed that feeling in a song: "I saw myself as the ‘Wayward Son,’ alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him," he told the magazine American Song Writer.

Despite their millions in sales and sold-out concert venues, the band members of Kansas remained regular country boys. As Rich Williams recalled in an interview with Vice, "It was exciting coming from Topeka to New York... We weren't very worldly yet. They were trying to take our luggage, and we were like 'Hey, you can't take our luggage'. [But] they were trying to take it to the room."

Believe it or not, this epic band is not included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to spokespeople of the Hall of Fame, "Factors such as an artist's musical influence on other artists, length, and depth of career and the body of work, innovation, and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration" when deciding the inclusion of a band. Fans are hoping that Kansas meets the criteria someday and started a petition on Change.org in 2012. So far, without success...

The band also had some bad luck with its legacy. In June 2008, a large explosion at Universal Studios in Los Angeles destroyed several movie sets and more than 100,000 music masters of different artists. Among them were those of Kansas, the New York Times Magazine reported.

After its big hits in the 1970s, Kansas has continued to perform and record albums. The composition of the group has varied, but they still tour and are currently celebrating their 50th anniversary. The most recent album of Kansas came out in 2020: 'The Absence of Presence'.

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