Post-Steppenwolf, John Kay Finds Inspiration from Musical Roots and Wildlife Advocacy

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When one finishes a tenure with a band they’ve been part of the better part of 50 years, what does one do for an encore? For veteran singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Kay, who said goodbye to Steppenwolf in 2018, the answer was getting back to his roots as a solo artist. Coincidentally, this year marks the 50th 50th anniversary of his solo debut Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes.

“Playing in Steppenwolf was exciting and often thrilling, but 50 years of goosebumps was long enough and returning to my musical roots is more gratifying for me at this point in my life,” says Kay during a recent interview.

On Saturday, August 13, Kay will bring his solo acoustic tour to Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater, promising an engaging night of music and stories.

“I’ll be playing songs from my various solo albums, a couple of recently written songs and several blues numbers,” he says. “I weave these songs together with anecdotes, personal stories, and recollections … I introduce almost every song with a short anecdote or remarks which give some insight as to why I wrote the song…As someone who saw my solo show once remarked ‘I get it, you're a storyteller.’”

Kay has embraced his ability to be a storyteller and is thankful his stories and lyrics continue to have an impact on people. He’s enjoyed a tight bond with audiences ever since his days with Steppenwolf.

“They stayed with us because they felt that what we had to offer musically often resonated with them,” says Kay. “There was a very tight bond between our supporters and the band. Otherwise, we would not have survived this long. We didn't just survive. At a certain point, we thrived …We had support that was ongoing and very loyal and of course we have this fan club called The Wolf Pack.”

“When you create a song and it goes out there like a child leaving home and you get some letters back saying, ‘That's the song I needed just now in my life. That's the one that I first play when I get up in the morning. That's my tonic for the day.’ Those kinds of responses that indicate that your music truly connected,” he continues. “That is really the part that is the most rewarding in terms as a songwriter. Even though you wrote something that was something you felt yourself, it connected out there, and it caused others to adopt that song as their personal anthem.”

Rock and Roll Dreaming

To say that Kay has lived an eventful life would be putting it mildly.

Kay was born in 1944 in East Prussia, into tumultuous circumstances. His father died in World War II a month before he was born. He and his mother later moved to what became East Germany. When he was five, he escaped with his mother under gunfire across the border into West Germany.

It was there that he started getting the itch to become a musician. When he was about 11 or 12, he became infatuated with American rock and roll music.

“I started to have this daydream that someday, I would like to be in America making this music once I learn how to speak English,” says Kay during an interview in 2020.

Years later, that dream came to pass. In the early ‘60s, he moved to America and joined the folk music revival. He says that “like many others my age at that time” he performed in coffee houses and learned “from the masters of the Blues and some singer-songwriters with something to say.”

“I was following in the footsteps of the masters of the Blues and listening to singer / songwriters who were influenced by Woody Guthrie and had something to say,” he says.

After moving to Los Angeles in the late ‘60s, he fulfilled his quest to form his own rock group, forming Steppenwolf. For the better part of the next 50 years, he found much success with the band.

He also found success outside the band, releasing a handful of solo albums.

Getting Wild

In recent years, Kay has devoted much of his time off the road to his longtime interest—wildlife advocacy. He formed Maue Kay Foundation with his wife Jutta in 2004 and grew more interested in protecting wildlife after traveling to East Africa.

 “We were really taken by the beauty of East Africa and met various people who are actively engaged in trying to protect and conserve what remains of the wildlife there, which of course is under pressure because of expanding human populations and poaching,” he said in 2020.

He had an “aha moment” when he saw a plaque in Tanzania that read, “Michael Grzimek: he gave all he possessed, including his life for the wild animals of Africa.” Said Kay, “It was that plaque about he gave all he possessed that triggered that train of thought that I'm still on to this day.”

After additional trips to Africa and other countries, he and his wife became more engaged with the boots on the ground that “fight valiantly to preserve the living treasures.” He’s grateful that the foundation is the link between the boots on the ground and people at home that want to help “once they know that there is an ongoing loss of wildlife, and they know who is doing what and that their money will be spent where it's intended.”

“This fellow came up to me and pressed a check with a donation into my hand and he said, ‘You know, I was unaware of what you informed us all about doing ?during this presentation today,’” he said. “Then he said something that's become our slogan. He said, ‘Now that I know, I care.’ Because that's what we're trying to accomplish. Now that you do know, will you pay attention to this? Will you support, if it's not us, some other entity or person that is really on our joint behalf trying to keep our fellow creatures from being wiped off this planet?”

It’s something that takes a lot of work, especially recently with the pandemic.

“Tourism in Africa, Asia and elsewhere has dropped significantly because of the pandemic,” he says. “Consequently, the funding for wildlife protection, rangers’ salaries, etc. dropped as well and poaching, bush-meat trade etc. increased,” says Kay. “Our small foundation was able to increase its financial assistance to the NGOs and people we support ‘somewhat,’ but all conservation entities are having a very hard time right now. We were scheduled to return to East Africa in January but due to COVID we canceled the trip.”

“Meanwhile, northern Kenya has an ongoing severe drought which has killed much wildlife and livestock. In an effort to increase funding to our Maue Kay Foundation (MKF), I'm working with partners to create a podcast, "From Rock Star to Wildlife Advocate: Hosted by John Kay of Steppenwolf." Its purpose is to secure sponsorship with the proceeds going directly into MKF.”

The podcast is an extension of the canceled Born to Be Wild performance and multimedia tour in 2020. He Kay created a narrated HD video version of the presentation, which is viewable for a $15 donation at the foundation website. The video caught the attention of the podcast’s producer, who proposed converting it to the new media. The podcast will premiere later this year.

“Whereas the video is 75 minutes long, the podcast's 30-minute episodes can tell the three intertwining stories - my personal one, the history of the band Steppenwolf and my transformation to Wildlife Advocate—in far greater detail with many images and film clips,” he says. “Sponsorship funds will go directly into the Maue Kay Foundation.”