America Still Riding High in the Saddle, Right Into Downtown Peekskill

2015 marks the 45th anniversary of the perennial favorite classic-rock band, America. Founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell met in high school in London in the late 1960s and quickly harmonized their way to the top of the charts on the strength of their signature song “A Horse with No Name.” They continued to record and perform an impressive string of hits following the success of that first #1 single. Forty-five years later, Beckley and Bunnell are still making music together and touring the world; their travels will bring them to the Paramount Hudson Valley in Peekskill on April 26th.

“America has had such an important, lasting impact in the music world during their 45 years playing together,” Paramount CEO Kurt G. Heitmann offers. “We are thrilled to be able to bring them to the Hudson Valley, where fans can experience America live in our beautiful, intimate theater. They’ll be playing all our favorites, and they play them with the same passion and skill that they always have. It’s a ‘can’t miss’ show!”

Formed in the late 60s by the offspring of American service personnel stationed in the UK, America comprised Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley. Heavily influenced by Crosby, Stills and Nash, they employed similarly strong counter-harmonies backed by acoustic guitar.

The Ian Samwell-produced single, “A Horse With No Name,” first proved a massive UK Top 5 hit. With backing by Warner Brothers Records, and management by former UK underground disc jockey Jeff Dexter, the single went to the top of the US charts, immediately establishing the band as a top act. America won a Grammy® Award in 1972 for Best New Artist.

Their debut album America topped the US charts for five weeks and paved the way for a series of further US Top 10 hits including “I Need You,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man” and “Lonely People.” Even with a catalog of memorable hit tunes, “A Horse With No Name” is still the song for which America is best known. According to Bunnell, the band is fine with that.

“That was the big bang that introduced us,” he said, “and then we won the Best New Artist Grammy that year against a very strong field, including the Eagles, Loggins and Messina, John Prine, Harry Chapin. It was big news.”

In many ways, the band was rooted in the melodic pop rock of the British Invasion, most particularly in Gerry Beckley’s hook-laden songwriting. This connection was made explicit when legendary Beatles producer George Martin came on board to help refine their sound. For his part, Dewey Bunnell brought a tinge of folk-jazz, combining Latin-leaning rhythms with playfully rhyming words and impressionistic lyric imagery. Dan Peek’s contributions often tapped into a country-rock vein, with a strong element of personal confession.

Five years after their debut, Peek left the band to pursue a solo career, but Beckley and Bunnell have continued to record and tour as America through today. Led by the duo, America hit the US Top 10 once again in 1982 with the single “You Can Do Magic” off of their View From The Ground album. They released America in Concertin the summer of 1985 and Human Nature in 1998. In all, six of America’s albums have been certified gold or platinum, with their first greatest hits collection, History, reaching the 4 million sales mark.

America’s songs have frequently dealt with themes of travel and restlessness - from such early compositions as “A Horse With No Name” and “Ventura Highway” through more recent tunes like “From A Moving Train.” Their boxed set, Highway, released in 2000, captures the highlights of where their music has carried them and chronicles the changes they’ve gone though both artistically and personally.

The band’s newest project is Lost & Found, featuring archived older recordings of previously unheard original songs from Beckley and Bunnell. The album has been slated for release this Spring and will only be available for sale at America concerts.

Event: America

Date: Sunday, April 26th, 2015

Time: 7pm

Tickets: $72.50, $ 62.50

Website: http://paramounthudsonvalley.com/events/event/america

For tickets and more information visit paramounthudsonvalley.com or call the box-office at 914-739-0039. Paramount Hudson Valley is located at 1008 Brown Street in Peekskill, New York.