Robby Steinhardt

Steinhardt grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and was the adopted son of Ilse and Milton Steinhardt. Milton Steinhardt was the director of music history at the University of Kansas. Robby started violin lessons at age eight and was classically trained. When his family traveled to Europe, the young Steinhardt played with some orchestras there.[2][3] Steinhardt attended Lawrence High School and was the concertmaster during his high school years.[2] He has often said that joining a rock band caused him to develop poor playing habits, one of which is holding his violin to the side of his head to hear himself better through the guitar amps and PA system.

Steinhardt's violin sound, and its interplay with the guitar and keyboards, helped define the Kansas sound. His lead vocals provided a contrast to the high tenor of singer Steve Walsh. The two often sang in harmony, with Steinhardt taking the lower voice. He has said that unless he has a writing credit on a song—his credits include about a half dozen songs—the violin (and occasional viola) part was written out for him, usually by Kerry Livgren.

Steinhardt joined a re-formed White Clover in 1972, with the group adopting the Kansas name before their first album in 1974. In 1983, he did not show up to record the next Kansas album. His departure from the band after the Vinyl Confessions tour in 1982 was for personal reasons. In the interim, he fronted his own band, Steinhardt-Moon and was a member of the Stormbringer Band from 1990 to 1996, recording two CDs with the group during his membership.[4] He also contributed to a Jethro Tull tribute album, To Cry You a Song: A Collection of Tull Tales on Magna Carta Records.[5]

In early 2006, Steinhardt once again left Kansas by mutual agreement due to the pace of touring. Since Steinhardt rejoined the band in 1997,[3] the band had averaged almost 100 shows per year.[6] Steinhardt served as the MC for the band's concerts when he was a member, with his fellow band member, Kerry Livgren describing his role like as: "Robby had a unique function as a violinist, second vocalist, and MC in a live situation. Robby was the link between the band on the stage and the audience."[1] Violinist David Ragsdale (Steinhardt's original replacement) quickly replaced him again.

In 2018 Steinhardt was asked by producer Michael T. Franklin to perform on the track "Active", for Jon Anderson of Yes. The album 1000 Hands Chapter One had a large cast of Classic Rock, World music and Jazz performers. In 2020 Steinhardt and Franklin began to work on a solo project for Steinhardt. Album and tour set for 2021.