When you think of soft rock, ballads, lush chords and poetic lyrics, a few bands or artists come to mind. But none more so than the icon 70's band "America." Anyone who grew in the 70s remembers classics like "Horse With No Name", "Ventura Highway", and "Sister Golden Hair" playing in full rotation on AM radio, and even if you didn't know the band's name, you knew most or all of the lyrics. Move forward to 2011 and America hasn't skipped a beat. Original members and founders, Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, tour around the world over 100 days a year to packed houses of enduring fans.
With a connection to the band via bass player Rich Campbell's wife Glynnis, I was invited down to the Palmdale Amphitheater in Palmdale, California with my camera. After spending a few moments in the tour bus chatting, we headed backstage where the guys were preparing to go on stage.
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| Dewey Bunnell & Gerry Beckley hang out backstage before the show |
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| Michael Woods - Guitarist |
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| Rich Campbell - Bassist |
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For 40 years "America" has been consistently touring and recording and are probably one of the hardest working bands in show business. Guitarist Michael Woods and drummer Willie Leacox, have been venerable mainstays, both playing with the band for nearly 30-years and newcomer, bassist, Rich Campbell, has been performing with the guys for 11-years.
The band played a 90-minute set of their classic hits as well as works from music's elite artists Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash.For an encore the band returned to play their number 1 hit song and probably the song most associated with America, "A Horse With No Name." The crowd on their feet, swaying and singing along, as the Grammy winning duo performed.
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| America plays worldwide for packed theaters of adoring fans. | | |
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