Lynn Meredith was a founding member of Kansas

Kansas (band)

Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

 (versions 1 and 2).

Born in Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan, Kansas

Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...

, Meredith's roots are in rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

, later branching out into progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 in his late teens. Meredith formed Saratoga with Kerry Livgren

Kerry Livgren

Kerry Allen Livgren is an American musician and songwriter, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the 1970s progressive rock band, Kansas.-Biography:...

, Don Montre and Dan Wright

Dan Wright (musician)

Dan Wright is the keyboard player for the band Proto-Kaw. A strong soloist, Dan’s creative style and use of odd effects became another trademark with the Kansas II sound. As a founding member of Kansas, versions I and II Dan had a prior history of playing with Kerry Livgren and Don Montre in bands...

 after high school, and Saratoga became the foundation for Kansas. Using his voice as another instrument, he searches for ways to add to the music using falsetto and various vocalizations.

After Kansas, Meredith didn't sing professionally for many years, but recorded with a band called Plastique in the early 1980s. He has since reunited with his other Kansas II cohorts in Proto-Kaw

Proto-Kaw

Proto-Kaw is an American progressive rock band. Featuring Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren, the group is a reformation of a band formed in the early seventies which served as the direct precursor to Kansas.-History:...

.

Currently, Meredith records with Proto Kaw, the reformed version of Kansas (2nd version of the famous rock group). Proto Kaw re-grouped after the original Kansas II demo recordings were discovered and released on Cuneiform Records in 2002 http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=377. This release caused the original members of Kansas to communicate for the first time in 28 years. A reunion party was planned in Kansas City in 2002 and the band enjoyed playing together again. This led to Kerry Livgren writing music for some experimental recordings with the members and an album, Before Became After http://www.rockreport.be/review.asp?id=608 was released under the Proto Kaw name in April 2004 on the Inside Out Music Labelhttp://www.insideout.de/catalog/search_result.php?keywords=Proto-Kaw&osCsid=4f445b1d992f82aada645e373a8fee98. Since that time, Proto Kaw has begun performing live again and released their third CD The Wait of Gloryhttp://www.hardrockhaven.net/reviews2006/jan2006/Proto-Kaw%20-%20The%20Wait%20of%20Glory.php in January 2006. They toured Europe in 2006 and plan on releasing their fourth CD in 2008.