Grammy-winning band goes the distance in its 53rd year

America to perform on Maui tonight; Henry Kapono to open

The first time the musicians of the band America began working with the Beatles' legendary producer George Martin, they felt a little awed. Martin had previously produced all the Beatles' albums from their "Please Please Me" debut to "Abbey Road."

"I was in awe of him as we all were because of the Beatles," America's Dewey Bunnell said. "As a person, he was well-grounded, very straightforward. We immediately seemed to bond on that first meeting. He kicked off his shoes, sat in the chair, 'Well, what do you want to do chaps? What is your thinking?' We said we've got songs, and we'd love you to produce us.

"George would tell you, 'I'm not sure what I do,' " Bunnell recalled. "He was an arranger and he would help pick the material. We'd come with a batch of songs and he would be, 'I like that one, this one sounds like the other one.' He played some piano on things. When we were in the studio he'd say, 'well, let's go back into the sort of accessories room,' where all the bells and whistles were. We used the bell from 'Yellow Submarine' on one of the songs."

Their first album with Martin, "Holiday," was a major hit producing the top singles "Tin Man" and "Lonely People."

With their bright melodies, rich harmonies and intricate acoustic guitar textures, America produced an array of memorable gems from "A Horse with No Name" and "Ventura Highway" to "Sister Golden Hair" and "You Can Do Magic."

Beginning as a trio and eventually working as a duo, they recorded seven albums with Martin, including "Harbor," which was recorded on Kauai. The cover featured a Kauai sunset.

"We really wanted to record an island," he explained. "George wanted to potentially go down to the Caribbean, and somehow we settled on Hawaii. We rented several houses and barged equipment over from Honolulu. It was a lot of fun, but I don't know how productive it was in retrospect. There were some good songs."

America's foundation was initially laid in England in the early 1970s. The sons of U.S. Air Force personnel stationed near London, Gerry Beckley, Dan Peek and Bunnell began playing together in high school. They began playing gigs in London, including opening for Pink Floyd and The Who.

"It was a fantastic time to be part of all that," he said. "We opened for Pink Floyd a couple of times. We got on the bill with all kinds of great acts like Rod Stewart and the Faces. We opened one show for The Who headlining and Elton John."

A few years ago Bunnell and Beckley released their first album of covers, recording a number of iconic songs, opening with Simon and Garfunkel's "America," and including Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," and a stunning version of the Beach Boys' classic "Caroline No," which impressed its composer, Brian Wilson.

"It's probably my favorite Beach Boys song," said Bunnell. "It's a beautiful song. Brian heard it and he said he liked it. I really enjoyed that project. I think every artist starts off playing songs that you love by other artists and they stay with you most of your life, and they inspired our own writing."

America's most recent album, "Lost & Found," featured new songs recorded between 2000 and 2011 that showcased their classic sound, with standouts including "Driving" and "One Horse Town."

If there is one song that quintessentially captures the Grammy-winning band's sound, Bunnell suggests it's their evocative road song, "Ventura Highway."

"I've always said 'Ventura Highway,' especially of the songs that I've written," he said. "Everybody would think I'd say 'Horse With No Name.' I think 'Ventura Highway' seems to most encapsulate that feeling of the free wind blowing through your hair and my exuberance and sort of excitement with life and moving to the West Coast. It was a real explosion of a newness and being part of this new culture, a new vibe, and 'Ventura Highway' encapsulated that."

Still thrilling audiences today, Bunnell notes: "We're in our 53rd year and to be perfectly honest, Gerry and I are sort of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But we're still very excited about it, and especially coming to Hawaii. We average about 80 shows a year, and we're very excited about coming to Maui."

America performs at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater. Henry Kapono will open. Tickets are $39, $49 and $69, with a limited number of $129 premium seats available, plus applicable fees, available at MauiArts.org.