As a music student at Wichita State I would spend many late nights practicing at the college. Either leaving or coming to practice I would walk through the Miller Concert Hall lobby and catch WSU Steelpan Orchestra’s rehearsals. To be honest, I always wanted to join the steel pan band but knew I didn’t have the time to devote.
Joseph Peck, a Wichita State music grad, on the other hand did join the group. Not only that - he directed the WSU Steelpan Orchestra for some time. According to Joseph Peck, “Wichita State became one of the very few universities in the 1970s with a steel band,” so as a student Peck “had access to the only acoustical musical instrument invented in the 20th century and many opportunities to perform for local Wichitans.”
Peck is returning to Kansas this weekend to perform with his L.A. based reggae-rock band Babylon Saints and to reunite for a weekend with his Wichita based steelband Afinké Machine:
