Rock On Magazine Meets with Keith Howland of Chicago

In 1967, after The Beatles released Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, groups all over the world began to see musical possibilities not considered before. Soon new genres like heavy metal, progressive, and punk, began joining the more familiar rockabilly, blues, soul and pop music scene, which had dominated early rock and roll. From within this soup of ideas, a seven-piece band emerged in Chicago. Initially called The Big Thing, they soon changed their name to The Chicago Transit Authority, and eventually it was shortened to just Chicago. While bands like The Beatles, and Moody Blues, and American composers like Phil Spector, had used orchestras, including horn sections, in the studio to bring their music to life on vinyl, there weren’t many bands that began with the horn section as an integral part of their sound. Lee Loughnane on trumpet, James Pankow on trombone, Walter Parazaider on woodwinds, along with Peter Cetera Robert Lamm, Danny Seraphine and the extraordinary guitar player, Terry Kath, created a band with a totally new, yet distinctly American sound, that would soon be pumping out hits at a rate not seen since the Beach Boys in the decade before them.

 In 1978, tragedy struck, when Terry Kath passed away at the age of 31 from an accidental gunshot wound. The band contemplated retirement, but soon decided to continue. For the next 18 years, attempting to replace Kath, the band utilized a variety of guitar players before finally hiring Keith Howland in 1995.

Howland says, “I was kicking around LA looking for a gig, and had basically called everyone I knew in the music industry trying to find one.

Then, one morning, I got a phone call from a buddy of mine, Dave Friedman (Friedman Amplification), who said, hey man; Chicago is auditioning guitar players if you want to try to get in?” While Keith didn’t know anyone in the Chicago organization, he decided to throw his equipment in his car and take a ride down to the tryout. Though he did not play that day, he did meet the bands' bass player. Howland Continues, “I talked to Jason Scheff, and he talked the guys into adding an extra day to listen to me, and the rest is history!” However, it wasn’t just a guitar gig; he had to sing as well. Though his speaking voice is in the lower tenor, baritone range, his vocals with the band tend to be in the higher tenor ranges. When this was pointed out, he laughed, and said, “Well, the older I get, the less that becomes the case, but that was the gig.” Before that he had toured with Rick Springfield and never sang a note. In his college bands, he sang songs from guys like Billy Idol, and ironically, a cover of the Chicago hit, Beginnings. Still laughing, he adds, “But you know what? The job called for tenor, so I just, you know, pulled up my jock strap and went for it. The guy before me Dwayne Baily, had a really high, pure tenor, and they wanted to replace that. So whatever I had to do, falsetto, a pair of pliers, whatever they wanted!”