Bluesfest Touring presents America
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Bluesfest Touring presents America

Venturing on the highway of success and traversing almost fifty years of melodious miles, the eminence of America is about to ‘cross the river’ and ‘swim the tide’ to reach yet another desert-land – Australia, in November and December this year, as promoted by Bluesfest Touring.

With an itinerary of seven Australian tour dates throughout five States, founding members Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley will recreate the magic of their original treasures Ventura Highway and A Horse With No Name using their sonic signatures of soothing smoothness and unforgettable undulations of tone.

‘On the first part of the journey’, America secured their passport to fame with their self-titled collection ‘America’, including the mystifying modulations, acoustic acuity and poignant percussiveness of A Horse With No Name; before accelerating towards further evocative excellence with sparkles of strings and hopping harmonies forming the musical goldmine known as Ventura Highway. Featuring on their 1972 album entitled Homecoming, Ventura Highway perpetuates a breezing motion of galloping guitar rhythms decorated with and earnest and meaningful vocal appeal. Simultaneously the piece projects ponderable references to ambiguous imagery, including the obscure ‘alligator lizards in the air’ – a description explained by lyricist Dewey Bunnell to encapsulate the shape of a cloud he witnessed while stopping on a drive with his family in California. Such lyrical mysteries only enhance the explorative and interpretative incentives towards the music; while audiences passively embrace the complimentary moods of Summer generated by the simmering riffs.

Received with admiration from both the United States and Australia, the album History: America’s Greatest Hits was certified multiplatinum in 1975; just two years prior to third founding member Dan Peek’s decision to leave the band. However, from the sorcery of enduring members, Bunnell and Beckley’s songwriting sprang the 1982 masterpiece You Can Do Magic, in which the gliding guitars form festoons of harmony, both vocally and instrumentally, throughout the transcendental narratives expressed by the Grammy Award winners and Vocal Group Hall Of Fame inductees.

A collaborative album entitled Here & Now was released in 2007, involving the musical contributions of fellow musicians whose influences could be attributed to America. Ideally, America’s Bluesfest tour will incorporate a host of emotionally resonant pieces spanning their entire illustrious catalogue.

The America Bluesfest tour will begin with a show at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, on November 27th; progressing through the Gold Coast; Brisbane; Canberra; Melbourne’s Palais Theatre on December 5th; to conclude in Perth on December 8th. This will be a ‘golden’ opportunity to stake your claim on witnessing two of the jewels of classic soft rock history.

Written By Renée N. Abbott