Far From Kansas

Far From Kansas formed in 2002 when J.D. Levin and his brother, Matt, teamed up with original drummer DANIEL MCDERMOTT and keyboardist DIANA ESSEX in a garage near the 126 freeway in Ventura. A slew of local shows and the SFS Records release, CHANGE FOR THE BETTER (2004), soon followed. When Daniel and Diana departed to attend college, Dixon was added to beef up the band's guitar sound, and Cruz joined on as the band's new keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist.

With these dramatic changes in the line-up the tried and true J.D. Levin formula had changed. While still literate and well crafted, these songs were now real, live rock and roll tunes. If the old J.D. Levin songs curled up next to you and whispered in your ear, then some of the Far From Kansas tracks were just as likely to get out of bed and kick you in the ass. The major difference between a song written by the man who truly is "Ventura's answer to Ryan Adams" and other, more recent band wagon converts to the genre is that Levin's songs, while kicking you in the ass, are still just as likely to evoke the ghosts of Springsteen, STEINBECK, SAM COOKE, and Hank Williams, sometimes literally, sometimes simultaneously. But whether they're kicking you in the ass, or whispering in your ear, J.D. Levin and Far From Kansas are always compelling and always ready on the juke box. All you have to do is let your quarter drop.