Kansas stems from the unlikely place of (you guessed it) Kansas. In the late 60s, high school classmates Phil Ehart and Kerry Livgren each led competing bands in their native Topeka. By 1970, the two bands united as Kansas, only to split the following year. Drummer Ehart then went to England to look for musical inspiration (which he didn't find), and quickly returned to reform his original band, White Clover. He recruited Steve Walsh and Robby Steinhardt along the way, while bassist Dave Hope and guitarist Rich Williams joined in 1972.