influenced

 

I don’t remember this well – at least not when it happened, that is – but the outcome of this event is something that shaped me forever.  It was Christmas, 1968 and I was 4.  My paternal grandparents came to visit and my grandpa pulled out his violin to play Christmas Carols with my grandma playing piano.  I had never seen a violin before, and I was transfixed on it and the sound it made.  I watched my grandpa drag the bow across the strings and move his fingers, and for some reason it just made sense to me.  I said, “I can do that!” and my grandpa handed me the violin- and guess what.  I could do it.  And, yes, I could play in tune.  My family was gobsmacked, and I was completely hooked.

When I turned 7, I was dared to try to play bass, and I did- and that’s a story for a different time.  The thing I want to impress here is that even though I became a bassist, I never stopped being a violinist.  I continued to play violin all thru elementary school, Jr. and Sr. High, and really only gave it up after high school.  (I still own a violin and viola and do play them, but not nearly as much)

Trouble was that I really didn’t have that much affinity for “legit” music.  As the player of a classical instrument, composers like Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi and Beethoven are basically your bread and butter.  I could play that stuff (once I learned how to read music) but it was never “me”- then again, I wasn’t really sure who I was as a player, but classical was definitely not the thing. 

When I went into 5^th grade, I started hearing artists like Stephan Grappelli, Joe Venuti and Ray Nance.  These guys were doing things I kind of liked, but couldn’t really identify with.  Players like Jean-Luc Ponty, Jerry Goodman and Allen Sloan were taking things in a direction that was closer to what I thought I wanted to do, but they lacked a certain melodic quality that was needed for me.

Then I heard the song “Lonely Wind”- and time just STOPPED.

I had never heard anything like this.  It wasn’t just the violin in it- the song had a majesty I had never heard before; the vocal just SOARED and it seemed like they were speaking to me.  I made every effort to get ahold of the first Kansas album, their eponymous debut effort- and when I did finally get it, I was completely and irrevocably hooked by what I heard, most notably the song “Journey from Mariabronn”.

That was my introduction to Robby Steinhardt and what was possible in music.

Robby was the whole package to me- a complete artist and showman, a phenomenal player and equally adept singer and writer.  He didn’t look like the rock stars of the day- wearing overalls, he looked like he’d be more at home in a corn field than on a stage.  That persona never changed thru the next several albums – “Song For America”, “Masque” and then the juggernauts of “Leftoverture” and “Point of Know Return” and follow-ups like “Monolith” and “Audio Visions” – Robby’s presence and playing on those incredible works were the thing that separated Kansas from every single band out there.  NO ONE sounded like them, and NO ONE sounded like him.

As a bassist, I do claim Dave Hope, the bassist from Kansas as a primary influence on me as a bassist, right along with Jaco Pastorius, George Hawkins, Anthony Jackson, George Porter, Scott LaFaro and all the rest- but Robby was my constant muse and was (and still is) my primary influence as a musician.  Everything I’ve ever written musically has been done with his musicality in mind- from his ability to add serious grit to vocals on songs like “Lightning’s Hand” and “Mysteries and Mayhem” to his soaring lines on “Nobody’s Home” and “Paradox” – Robby’s influence is there on me, palpable and undeniable. 

Robby went thru some personal stuff after “Somewhere to Elsewhere” that negated his ability to continue with the band, and even though I really do love what David Ragsdale has brought to them (and he is a SPECTACULAR player), the band hasn’t been the same without Robby’s vocals or his delivery both on violin and vocally.  I have, sadly, heard a few stories about Robby and his dealings with folks during some of that time that does not paint him in a particularly good light, but I know that everyone makes mistakes and goes thru stuff – and I prefer not to dwell on any of that.  I really wanted to hear some new music from him, but…..

Now he’s gone.

I know how silly this may seem to some- I’m waxing on about a man I never met that was in a 70’s super group that was larger than life, but here’s the deal and this is why it’s such a gigantic thing to me- it was during that time when I first heard Robby that I was physically abused by a couple of family members, and it was Robby and Kansas that somehow got me thru that, and for that I am eternally grateful.  If songs like “The Wall” and “Closet Chronicles” and “Portrait (He Knew)” hadn’t been there for me to disappear into, I honestly don’t think I would be here today.  If tunes like “A Glimpse of Home”, “Hopelessly Human” and “Angels Have Fallen” weren’t part of my world, I don’t know where I’d be.  And while it was Kerry Livgren who wrote those songs and Steve Walsh was the one who did the lion’s share of the singing, it was Robby with his overalls, wild hair, menacing stare, unbelievable feel and formidable chops who brought all of that home for me and make it so that I could identify with that and feel part of it. 

I know we hadn’t heard anything from Robby in quite awhile, but I knew he was still out there, and there was always the possibility of something new.  Now, that won’t happen, and I am left feeling both sad and grateful for this man – again, who I never met – and the part he played in my life.  I’m going to miss him terribly, but I have his work to listen to and remind me of what is possible. 

Thank you, Robby.  Rest well.