Legendary rock band Kansas is currently on their Another Fork in the Road 50th Anniversary Tour. However, the band will have to carry on without their longtime drummer Phil Ehart. He recently survived a heart attack and will be taking time away from the road to recover.
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Yesterday, the band took to social media to announce Ehart’s absence from future tour dates. “Kansas original drummer and band manager, Phile Ehart, is taking time away from touring as a drummer for Kansas while he recovers after recently surviving a major heart attack,” they wrote in the post. “There is no timetable to his return to the road,” they added.
[Kansas’ Another Fork in the Road Tour: Get Tickets]
Ehart won’t have to step away from all of his band duties, though. He will continue to manage the group as he has done for the last forty years.
Kansas Announces Replacement Drummer
The statement notes that Eric Holmquist will fill in for Ehart while he’s recovering. Holmquist will take his place behind the kit when the tour picks up on March 1 in Richmond, Virginia. The band couldn’t have chosen a better drummer to fill in for Ehart.
“Holmquist has filled in for Ehart on drums when Phil was ill in 2016, during Phil’s arm rehabilitation in 2022-2023, and has been performing the first half of shows during the Kansas 50th Anniversary Tour,” the band wrote. “Previously, Eric was Phil’s drum tech and protégé for more than 20 years.”
In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Holmquist discussed his connection to the band and how he came to be Ehart’s drum tech and replacement. “I was a huge Kansas fan as a kid so I would go to 40 or 50 shows per year,” he recalled. “Over the years, I became great friends with the crew guys as well as the band guys. So, when Phil’s old tech, JT, retired, I got the call,” he said.
He also opened up about taking over Ehart’s position for the first time. “I had 24 hours’ notice when I had to fill in. Phil had emailed me the day before saying he had kidney stones,” Holmquist said. “I immediately went down to my drum set and started going through some tunes on the setlist. Since I was about five, I have been playing along to Kansas CDs, so it felt normal to me,” he explained.
Kansas’ Another Fork in the Road Tour picks back up at the Dominion Energy Center in Richmond, Virginia on March 1.
Featured Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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