The Return of Rayfield

Split Lip Rayfield

Better than: Ezra

By RICHARD GINTOWT

Is there any band that means more to Kansas than Split Lip Rayfield? Oh yeah – Kansas. But since Kerry Livgren long ago traded in his long hair and axe for a pastor’s robe, I’m gonna have to go with Split Lip Rayfield.

For twelve years, these guys have been blowing gaskets with a superfast bastardization of bluegrass. If you locked Yngwie Malmsteen in a cave for a year with a mandolin and a banjo, you might get something like SLR. It’s a nifty trick, but it’s backed up with great songs about boogan escapades and Batman.

The trio kicked off a three-night stand at the Bottleneck last night with a Tall Boy-sized set that spanned two hours and a decade’s worth of material. Banjo man Eric Mardis dedicated the show to Kirk Rundstrom, a founding SLR member who lost his courageous battle with cancer last February. Rundstrom’s passing initially seemed to signify the end of SLR, but the remaining trio of Mardis, Wayne Gottstine (mandolin) and Jeff Eaton (one-string gas tank bass) returned to the stage this summer and decided to honor Rundstrom’s memory the best way they knew – playing music.