More than 20 years after prompting a collective "whoa" from the stoner community with their classic rock staple "Dust In The Wind," the original lineup of Kansas is at it again.

On July 11, the prog-rock-flavored outfit will release the first album from its original lineup in 17 years when "Somewhere To Elsewhere" arrives.

To help drum up early interest in the album, the band will roll in to Kansas City on Friday to perform the National Anthem before baseball's Kansas City Royals play their first home game of the 2000 season.

"Growing up in the Topeka/Kansas City area, the Royals were the team," Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh said of the booking. "We guarantee it'll be better than Roseanne."

The performance and the new album find guitarist Kerry Livgren back in the fold after a 17-year absence. Livgren stopped recorded with the band 1983, and has now actually brought the band into his Grandyzine studio in Topeka, Kansas to record "Somewhere To Elsewhere." Livgren is sharing production duties with drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Richard Williams.

"So far, it's very exciting and a great reunion, both personally and musically," Livgren has said of the offering. "The music has many of the signature characteristics that have come to be expected from the band, while incorporating many new stylistic twists."

After finding an audience with the sweeping sounds of tracks like "Carry On Wayward Son," "Point Of Know Return," and the aforementioned "Dust In The Wind," the band found a harder edge for 1983's "Drastic Measures," the last studio offering from the group's original lineup.