Music of Kansas

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Music of the United States

For many decades,

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 in the state. Among current leading country artists, Martina McBride and Chely Wright
are natives of Kansas.

The state has also fostered some rock acts – the one that is most associated with the state is almost certainly the band called Kansas. Some famous and pioneering jazz musicians also had roots in Kansas.

History

See also: Indigenous music of North America § Plains

The first music performed in the area that is now Kansas was that of the Indigenous peoples who lived there.

The earliest documented music comes after settlement by Anglo-Americans in the 1850s. One of the first musical works relating to Kansas was "Ho! For the Kansas Plains", a song written by James G. Clark in the 1850s, which mythologized the territory as the site of abolitionist battles during the Bleeding Kansas era.[1] A representative lyric was "Ho! For the Kansas plains; Where men shall live in liberty; Free from the tyrant's chains." Along the same lines, some versions of the famous Civil War marching song "John Brown's Body" refer to John Brown's abolitionist activities in Kansas Territory during the same era.

Following the Civil War, as Kansas became known more for its cowboys, saloons and wide-open spaces, another notable song written in and about Kansas was "

state song. The song established something of a template for Kansas music, and over the next several decades, music coming from Kansas remained in a similar folk or old-time music
style, while lyrics referencing the state tended to focus on its open countryside.

Composer and musician Nathaniel Clark Smith, born at Fort Leavenworth, was an important music educator in the early 1900s. In the 1920s, the Kansas City jazz scene developed in eastern Kansas. Coleman Hawkins, who introduced the tenor saxophone to jazz, was raised in Topeka, and began touring in eastern Kansas by 1918 (at the age of 14). Singer Ada Brown was born in Kansas City. Drummer Kansas Fields was born in Chapman. Pianist, singer, and bandleader Joe Sanders was born in Thayer. Harpist Betty Glamann was born in Wellington. Singer and composer Nora Holt, a figure in the Harlem Renaissance, was born in Kansas City, Kansas. Choral conductor Eva Jessye, a contemporary of Holt, was born in Lawrence. In the following years, Kansas native Charlie Parker (d. 1955, buried near Kansas City, MO) also came to prominence in Kansas City. Around the same time, Kansan Stan Kenton likewise became notable as a jazz band leader and pianist. Pianist Jesse Stone was born in Atchison. Alto saxophonist Bobby Watson was born in Lawrence.

Outsider musician and composer Moondog was born in Marysville.

Mid-century

Overland Park
.

1960s

In the 1960s,

Midwest
and releasing regional singles.

1980s

In the early 1980s, Wichita, 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, Get Smart!, and Mortal Micronotz.[2]

1990s

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.

Mule
. Other bands from Kansas signed during the same period included Shiner, Sin City Disciples, Season to Risk, Everywhere, and Arthur Dodge and the Horsefeathers. 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 Hüsker Dü, The Flaming Lips, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Meat Puppets, and other well known alternative bands of the 1980s. Late contemporaries included Grither, Zoom, Vitreous Humor, Believe it or Nots, and Stick. Notable musicians of this time to come from Kansas are Mark Hart, Danny Carey, Kliph Scurlock, and Brody Buster.

hip hop
group formed in Topeka in 1993.

2000s

Midwest hip hop artists

Appleseed Cast
.

Musical venues in Kansas

The following are alphabetical lists of notable venues located in Kansas that regularly host musical acts.

Concert halls & theaters

Other notable indoor venues

  • The Bottleneck – Lawrence
  • Bramlage Coliseum – Manhattan
  • Cotillion Ballroom – Wichita
  • D.J.'s – Concordia
  • Eighth Street Taproom – Lawrence
  • The Gas Light – Lawrence
  • Granada Theater – Lawrence
  • Grandmother's – Topeka
  • Intrust Bank Arena – Wichita
  • Jackpot Music Hall – Lawrence
  • The Jazzhaus – Lawrence
  • The Jolly Troll – Holton
  • Kirby's Beer Store – Wichita
  • Landon Arena/Kansas Expocentre
    – Topeka
  • Liberty Hall – Lawrence
  • Longhorn's Saloon – Manhattan
  • Manhattan Arts Center – Manhattan
  • McPherson Opera House (1889) – McPherson
  • Memorial Hall – Kansas City
  • Red Dog Inn – Lawrence
  • Replay Lounge – Lawrence
  • The Stiefel Theater - Salina
  • The Wareham Opera House – Manhattan
  • The Wave - Wichita
  • The Yuk – Lawrence

Outdoor venues and festivals

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Clark, James G. (February 2006). "Ho! For the Kansas Plains". Library of Congress. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Mills, Mike (July 1985). "Our Town". Spin. p. 23. If the Embarrassment from Lawrence, Kansas, had become a huge national hit, people would have gone, "God, there's Get Smart!, and The Mortal Micronotz — LOOK AT ALL THOSE BANDS! What is it about Lawrence, Kansas, that produces these bands?"
  3. ^ "Truck Stop Love". Lawrence.com. November 10, 2004. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  4. ^ "Kill Creek Biography". Second Nature Recordings. October 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

External links

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