RIDGEFIELD — When Kansas burst onto the mainstream music scene with “Carry On Wayward Son” in 1977, they were already a well-established and well-practiced ensemble that honed their musicianship and performance skills playing hundreds of shows and producing several preceding records.

But it was the title track for their 1975 project Song for America that cemented the band’s position among the first American progressive rock outfits that had previously been dominated by British acts like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, and Canada’s power trio, Rush.

What began essentially as a garage band in Topeka, Kansas released their debut album in 1974 after being discovered by Wally Gold, who worked for Don Kirshner.

Since then, according to their website, the band has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), and a million-selling gold single, “Dust in the Wind.”

Kansas also appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan.

After its release, the aforementioned “Carry On Wayward Son” became the #2 most played track on classic rock radio in 1995 and went to #1 in 1997.

Along with touring, Kansas continues to remain a fixture on classic rock radio, has reached a whole new audience with songs featured in Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games,TV shows like Supernatural and South Park, and in the films Old School and Anchorman.

In March 2015, the band released a documentary, Miracles Out of Nowhere, with a companion album to the film catapulting Kansas back onto Billboard’s Top 200 chart after more than a 25 year absence.

Kansas has successfully endured several personnel changes over the years, although some purists argue the original lineup of Richard Williams on guitar, Phil Ehart on drums, Dave Hope on bass, Robby Steinhardt on vocals, violin, viola and cello, Kerry Livgren on guitar, and Steve Walsh on vocals, keyboards, synthesizers and percussion, represents the epitome of that ensemble’s lineup.

The band circa 2015 is comprised of Williams and Ehart, long time bassist/vocalist Billy Greer, violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale and their newest members, keyboardist David Manion, vocalist/keyboardist Ronnie Platt.

Ahead of a return to the Ridgefield Playhouse July 26, Kansas co-founder Williams told The Newtown Bee in an exclusive interview that the band is as energized as ever, even dipping back into its catalog to bring fans a new selection of deeper tracks in concert, some for the first time in decades. And on a personal note, it was sweet to hear him gush like a love-smitten teen at the mention of his new bride, Debbie.

Newtown Bee: I was recently invited to the New York premier of your documentary, Miracles Out of Nowhere, and had the distinct pleasure of meeting your bride, Debbie.

Richard Williams: She is wonderful. It’s one of those things where (before we met) we’d both been through a lot. We’ve experienced a lot in life, and are so grateful now for the road that brought us together.

Bee: She seems to have great appreciation and deep understanding for the position you and the band hold in the Rock & Roll history book.

Williams: She has taught me how to understand it. We were kind of two broken parts who fit together perfectly — and it was really a love at first sight situation, all that cornball “we complete each other” kind of stuff, but for us it’s all true. Life began for me in an awake, aware way with her. It took me 50-some years to wake up. Until then I was dumb as a post. She changed all that.

Bee: Well, I guess it’s time to talk about the band now. So how have things been going with getting Ronnie and David on board replacing Steve Walsh?

Williams: Last August Steve Walsh informed us it was time to hang it up — he didn’t have the heart for it. He poured his guts out for us recording and performing on stages with Kansas all over the world for 40 years. So, I love what I do, and it makes all the hard work enjoyable. But if I didn’t love it anymore, it would be drudgery. Steve just ran out of gas. I wish him well and I understand. Ronnie I had seen a couple of times in a band called Shooting Star, and I said “who is this guy singing, he’s just killing it.” I made a mental note of it, and then ran into him at a couple of Chicago area shows we did. So when it was time for Steve to retire, we started looking up Ronnie Platt on YouTube, and we saw he had the chops to do it. We flew him to Atlanta, to meet the guy. More important than his ability, is, can I work with the guy? You just don’t know. But we flew him in, spent the day telling band stories and I discovered he was just like the guys I used to hang around with at the music store in Topeka. That sealed the deal.

Bee: And now that he’s in the trenches, has that all played out as you suspected?

Williams: Ronnie is completely devoid of what I call “lead singer’s disease.” He is a sincerely, genuine good guy. He’s so glad to be here and he has a work ethic to be admired. He takes his role in the Kansas legacy very seriously — and has tremendous respect for what Steve Walsh accomplished. Now the job is to convince our fans that this line-up isn’t going to suck. Hey, the classic line up with Kerry was 30 years ago. So once we hit the road, most of the critics were silenced, and the fans are loving him. But he’s his own singer - he’s not mimicking anybody. He does the songs justice, but he brings himself to it.

Bee: How about with David?

Williams: We decided to go back to two keyboard players, and David was part of the organization for years. He was Steve’s keyboard tech, and was Billy Greer’s keyboard player (in his own band). He’d been doing this for a long time, knew all the material, knew all the arrangements, and Steve recommended him. He was my first choice, too. Here’s a guy, we don’t have to get used to what he’s like, his quirks, he lives right here, and we’ve been getting along great with him for 15 years.

Bee: You could tell from the audience sometimes by the look on Steve’s face that he didn’t have the same fire as you and Phil and Billy. Do the new members give you an opportunity to play songs that Steve didn’t want to do?

Williams: Well, there was a lot of material that Steve refused to do. There were songs we wanted to do and he’d say “I don’t like that song,” or “I don’t believe in that song.” His lack of enthusiasm was kind of a wet blanket for us to do anything — even new recording. But it’s understandable because he poured his heart and soul into his solo albums, and they weren’t very well received. It was disheartening for Steve. He sold his recording equipment, he didn’t want to write anymore, and it became a downward spiral. He lost the joy of doing it. He was a very passionate guy, but I think he just got tired beating his head against the wall and not getting the results he hoped for.

Bee: So now you’re playing some different, kind of long-lost material?

Williams: We’ve pulled some great songs out of the closet. But even more exciting, is we’ve finished recording our first new song, which was completed just last week. So now everybody wants to record again. We haven’t done an album since 2000, and on that one, Steve basically e-mailed his singing parts to us because he was in the studio doing his solo album. On this first run, we spent five days in the studio just throwing things on the floor to see what came out. And we came out with a great song - very Kansas sounding with a great middle section. We were just tickled pink with the results. We went in not knowing how this was all going to work, and it worked tremendously.

Bee: And all six members have a fingerprint on the new song?

Williams: Absolutely. This (band) is an all for all/equal voice in all things kind of situation. Even if the engineers have a thought, kick it out there. Nobody has to tip-toe around egos. And that environment spurs creativity. We’re going to take November off to write material and recording in January or February.

Bee: Has there been a song that has remained in the set list over the years that you enjoy playing the most?

Williams: I think I’m enjoying some of the new old songs that we haven’t been playing in years. I like the song “Closet Chronicles,”  which was a tune that Steve “didn’t believe in” that we are doing now. It’s an iconic classic, it’s fun to play, interesting musically, very dynamic, very powerful. “Opus Insert” is another one. It’s one from a very popular album of ours, and it’s fun to play that one again.

Bee: How has current technology helped you scale back the amount of boxes and cases you’re hauling around?

Williams: Well, guitars are guitars, but as far as amplification goes, there have been a lot of advancements and changes. Right now I’m playing through a Fractal Ax-FX II, which is an amazing piece of gear. I’m sitting in front of it right now editing. I’m using it in the studio and everybody is amazed at what it does. I’m not a tech head, but I learn more about it every day. For someone like me who just likes to turn knobs and see what comes out — well, I could spend my life with this thing and still not uncover everything it can do. I take two units on the road and I keep one at home. I can transfer presets off a (USB drive) It sounds like a Marshal stack, it defies the ears of engineers, and it makes it easy to fly into gigs with minimal gear. It’s the same sound everywhere I go.

Bee: Before we go, let’s come back around to the documentary…

Williams: We relied on the director to make (Miracles Out of Nowhere) good — Charley Randazzo — who loves Kansas. He was so into this project, and it was a hard project. We knew exactly where we wanted it to go. I guess there’s always the temptation to tell the juicy backstage stories, but we just wanted to tell our story — coming out of Kansas and the miracle of how we climbed up to the top. Everybody was on board because it was an opportunity to tell our story. Every band — hell, every garage band — has stories of naughty boys doing naughty things. But those stories are kind of boring, and they are universal. We didn’t want it to be an exposé. We wanted it to be about Kansas, the personalities, and what we achieved together.

Check out "Point of No Return" featuring Richard Williams and the newest Kansas lineup in this video from the Cox Capitol Theatre in Macon, Ga last January. 

Kansas co-founder Richard Williams does double-duty on electric and acoustic guitar in this video of "Miracles Out of Nowhere" from a March 2015 set in Kansas City.

Learn more about the band at kansasband.com, and for tickets to the July 26 Kansas show, visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.