Kansas‘ violinist Joe Deninzon recently appeared as a guest on Interviewing the Legends hosted by Ray Shasho and shared how Tom Brislin ensured the band’s future during the COVID period.
Revealing the backstory of his becoming a member of Kansas, Deninzon humorously said:
“It all started with a tomato. It was a weird night. It was actually late February, believe it or not. I agreed to play a house party and was rushing to get to the gig. We were expecting company, and I was helping my wife cut salad. As I was running out the door, I was going to be late for the gig; I’m like, that one salad looks like it needs one more tomato.
Like [I] hastily started cutting the tomato, and I sliced my ring finger in half, like the tip of it. So obviously, I had to get a sub for the gig. I ran to the ER. I was in the ER getting my finger stitched up, writhing in pain, as I got a text from Tom Brislin asking me to call him.”
Brislin invited the musician to join Kansas and also revealed his plan to secure Kansas’ future:
“Tom is the keyboardist from Kansas and a friend and colleague of mine who I’ve known for a number of years. And of all the times that I would get the call. That was when it happened.
I called him back, and his first words to me were, ‘We’ve all had COVID. We’ve had to cancel like 20 shows and lost a lot of money. We had to return the tickets. It was really rough, so we have a new policy where every member of the band has to have a backup guy who can come in and know the music. Would you be interested in checking it out?‘ I said, ‘Of course.'”
Kansas announced last month that they hired Joe Deninzon to replace their long-time violinist David Ragsdale after his departure from the band due to personal reasons. The musician delivered his first performance with his new act on June 2 at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, PA, as Kansas launched its 50th-anniversary tour.
You can watch the full interview below.
