"(Maplewood) walks softly and carries a big stick carved out of lovely, mellow rock." -- Time Out NY "But this Maplewood, man, this baby takes the cake. . . Hell, man, we still got the thing on repeat two days later. I'm feeling good, too. I been showering in the ocean." -- PopMatters (read the entire piece) "Maplewood's debut is an elaborately crafted valentine to the guys who once made the laid-back pose look so good and sound so easy. California-canyon rockers like Gram Parsons, The Byrds, and America. This Brooklyn band's sound is built primarily around 12-string acoustic, trebly country-folk electric guitar and three-part harmonies with enough reverb to provide an ethereal edge. Occasional strings, percussion, pedal-steel guitar and organ add to the layered, sophisticated pop feel. Contributors include members of Champale, Nada Surf and Sparklehorse not to mention, a gorgeous, pot-smoking melancholy that perfectly recaptures the easy, breezy sound of vintage FM radio. -- Paste Magazine "They escape being mere revivalists by investing their hearts into the material. There is no winking or obvious lifting of melodies. They create the feel of the sensitive California '70s with an easy, sweet manner and plenty of laid-back soul." -- All Music Guide (read the entire piece.) The Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2006 Rediscovering America: Often-maligned '70s band gets hipsters¹ support By Ethan Smith In the music business, making famous friends can be the ticket out of seemingly permanent residence in history's cutout bin. Just ask Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, the 54-year-old soft-rock troubadours known to the world as America. In the 30-odd years since America topped the pop charts with songs including "A Horse With No Name" and "Sister Golden Hair," the pair has stayed busy, if not especially cool, playing upward of 100 shows a year, many at state fairs and casinos. For much of that time, the band, with its airy harmonies and soothing acoustic guitars, has had a hard time being taken seriously by the mainstream music industry. "It's been tough to get deals," says Mr. Bunnell, who lives with his family in Land O Lakes, Wis. "We've had a repackage (of the old hits) every now and then where we can talk them into throwing a new song on." But now, the band has teamed with an unlikely group of younger, hipper musicians for its first major-label studio album since 1984, part of a broader attempt to rehabilitate America to a level of credibility it hasn't enjoyed in decades if ever. Messrs. Bunnell and Beckley have joined forces with Ryan Adams, Ben Kweller and members or former members of Fountains of Wayne, Smashing Pumpkins, My Morning Jacket and others to create "Here & Now," a two-disc album set for release next month. (America's third original member, Dan Peek, left the group in 1977 to pursue a solo career as a Christian pop artist.) On top of that, a Los Angeles clothing company has launched a line in which America-related items such as a $325 Horse With No Name belt and buckle are featured alongside gear based on songs by David Bowie and the Beatles. The "famous friends" tactic has worked for artists such as Carlos Santana, who relaunched his career with a guest-star-laden album in 1999. The new America album was the brainchild of Mr. Beckley and Adam Schlesinger, a founder of Fountains of Wayne, a 1970s-obsessed outfit with a couple of hit songs ("Stacy's Mom") under its belt. But chief among Fountains of Wayne's fans is a small army of rock critics, whose support has made the band a leading arbiter of cultural cool. During its live shows, the group frequently breaks into medleys of arguably cheesy '70s rock riffs by the likes of Kansas and ZZ Top. Now Mr. Schlesinger's catalog of classic rock vibes is being put to use in the name of America. He and former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha own a recording studio in New York, where they co-produced "Here & Now" this past spring. The elder and younger pairs of musicians hooked up after Mr. Beckley emailed Mr. Schlesinger to say he was a fan of Fountains of Wayne. (During a recent America tour, Fountains of Wayne's third album, "Welcome Interstate Managers," was "in heavy rotation on our bus," Mr. Beckley says.) Mr. Beckley says he was looking for songwriting partners when he contacted Mr. Schlesinger, but never envisioned the large-scale collaboration involved in "Here & Now." "It was never intended to be a here's-us-and-our-cool-friends kind of project," he says. The musicians recorded two songs together, which became the calling card that landed them a deal with Burgundy Records, a new, adult-leaning label owned by Sony BMG Music Entertainment. When it came time to choose songs, Messrs. Schlesinger and Iha combed through 30 years' worth of demo recordings and song fragments by Messrs. Dewey and Bunnell. But the younger musicians also steered the duo to several songs by contemporary bands they felt might be well suited to America's sound. Mr. Schlesinger suggested a song called "Indian Summer," by a New York City band called Maplewood, whose members have said one of their goals is to emulate America's sun-kissed, Southern California sound. "As I was playing this somewhat 'Ventura Highway'-esque lick, the world turned inside out a little bit," recalls Mr. Beckley with a chuckle. "Indian Summer" ended up on the new album. Executives at Burgundy Records sensed a marketing opportunity in the parade of guest players on the disc, since their fans could represent a whole new set of potential buyers. America's music "influenced their idols," says Tony Ward, Burgundy's vice president for marketing. And to lure older fans of America, Burgundy is packaging the new songs with a second CD containing live performances of a dozen classic songs by the group. The restoration of America extends further. Los Angeles-based Lyric Jeans has incorporated the words from two America hits into T-shirts in its Lyric Culture line. Lyric President Hanna Rochelle Schmieder says that in test runs, the "Sister Golden Hair" shirt ranked among the company's top three sellers at boutiques nationwide. Lyric has obtained licenses to subtly incorporate in its clothing words from hits by acts ranging from the Beatles to Madonna. The company last week sent the America shirts to several blonde celebrities, including Cameron Diaz and Pamela Anderson. Ms. Schmieder says that America's slightly hazy place in the awareness of young people actually could increase the appeal of the band. "All the young hot girls, they're not going to wear something that's currently being played on the radio," she says. Lyric recently hosted a Hollywood promotional event that featured both a short America concert and a fashion show in which models strutted in the T-shirts bearing titles of the band's songs.Success in the clothing line would represent a different sort of vindication for America. Mr. Bunnell says he's always been puzzled by the sparse interest among advertisers in using his band's hits in commercials. "I always thought 'Sister Golden Hair' would be a Clairol ad," he says. "And maybe 'Ventura Highway' would be a car ad. "If the multipronged effort to make America hip succeeds it might be a first for the band. After all, Mr. Schlesinger notes that the group had "credibility issues" in its chart-topping early-1970s heyday, when many cognoscenti dismissed the group as poseurs riding on the coattails of supposedly more authentic Southern California rockers such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Legend has it that Neil Young, in particular, was irritated that Mr. Bunnell's Western imagery and almost-trembling, nasal delivery on "A Horse with No Name" led some listeners to believe the song was by Mr. Young. Mr. Bunnell is not unfamiliar with the complaint, but adds that he thinks the story has been overblown. At the time, both acts were managed by David Geffen and his then-partner Elliot Roberts. "I never felt like Neil was walking around the office with a dark cloud over his head because we were there," Mr. Bunnell says. The impending release of "Here & Now" has already opened one door for America. The group hadn't been able to find concert promoters to book them in Britain for decades, even though the band was formed in that country. They are now set for a short tour there, their first since 1975. "We just couldn't seem to get arrested over there," Mr. Bunnell says. "It's nice that somebody's taking a chance." But even if America does become cool again or for the first time the group may want to retain some of its ways from the decades it spent as workmanlike players on the nostalgia circuit. "We're mulling the concept of doing some kind of hip club tour," Mr. Bunnell says. But "frankly, we have to weigh economics. You can't just find the hot club and go in there and play for 200 people" since that wouldn't yield enough revenue to meet expenses. America's typical appearances in recent years have drawn 500 to 2,000 people at larger venues. Being cool has a way of taking a backseat to more practical concerns, Mr. Bunnell notes, "when you're in your 50s and and you've got mortgages and record sales aren't what they used to be." -- Wall Street Journal "Maplewood from overseas with their Album("Maplewood of the same name make the beginning"). In the press text to that CD fall as strange terms as Canyon skirt, Breezy Pop or Desperado Dust. Comparisons with Neil Young, the Beach Boys in the 70ern and the late Byrds are employed. Why as much blown up Quatsch around a simply beautiful summer plate? Simply Discman and Maplewood pack up, a nice, calm and sunny Plaetzchen at the beach or in the forest look for each other, CD insert and from the sunrise to the sunset enjoy. If the beach or the forest should be limited too far away and the time, it does the hammock on the balcony to the emergency also. Maplewood bring us with their album campfire romance purely. Besides still solid manual work and this peaceful 70er-Feeling associate. Simply a marvelous summer plate!" -- Hamburg.de (courtesy of Google translator) "Maplewood exists in a California of the mind" -- OnMilwaukee.com (read the entire interview "Strummy acoustic guitars, 12 string lead, electric solos that ride the melodic wave of sunshine. . ." -- Indierec.com (read the entire interview) ". . .invokes the spirit of ¼70s-era Laurel Canyon with effortless grace." -- Twin Cities Pulse (read the entire piece.) "Maplewood make you nostalgic for something you may not really have experienced. They don't sound exactly like America or Bread or the Byrds or the Flying Burrito Brothers, but they sound exactly how what you remember those bands sounded like." -- NY Press (read the entire piece) "The music is as sincere as it is improbable, and the songs are about girls, the change in seasons and other stuff that only makes sense in certain contexts, like when you're high at home. I'd been giving been giving Maplewood a chance at home for several weeks -- desperately trying to discern if their self-titled debut CD was a kitschy concept record or an excercise in ironic crate digging or something like that -- because despite my better judgment I couldn't get over the fact that I was into it: the simple strumming of the jangly guitar lines, the soft patter of the drum touches and the effortless but studied layering of breathy white boy voices lifting and fading into the mix." -- Fader Magazine "Le nom du label (Tee Pee records) donne une premiËre indication - les types de Maplewood sont ceux avec lesquels on aimerait rÈaliser le fantasme masculin ultime (au moins dans les premiËres annÈes de la vie) : b’tir une cabane dans les arbres, suffisamment inaccessible pour ne jamais Ítre dÈcouverte et dans laquelle on pourrait griller des saucisses, lÈcher l'huile des boÓtes de sardines et fumer des cigarettes improbables." -- PopNews (read the entire piece) "Maplewood are one toke away from the cosmos and harbingers of a movement already afoot." -- PopMatters (read the entire piece) "Maplewood are like a summer breeze, makin' yah feel fine, blowing jasmine through your mind. . . Great song-writing, great vocals with harmonies + harmonies + harmonies! They're all about the '70's soft-rock homage. . ." -- Village Voice "Maplewood, the latest project of that whole Champale/Nada Surf/Koester family, is, as the fellas in the band like to say, 'blissfully evoking a joyride up the Pacific Coast Highway.' They're some guys who grew up listening to the Minutemen now playing around with acoustic guitars, sometimes cracking themselves up in their Park Slope studio, singing about Indian summers. Members include Champale frontman and New Yorker contributor Mark Rozzo, Koester's Steve Koester and Winterville's Craig Schoen. (Maplewood co-founder and former Fuzztone Ira Elliott is currently on tour with his primary band, Nada Surf.) Given the band's background as done-it-all hipsters, you might think Maplewood is just a goof, but it's really not. It's music that makes you wish you were in Cali, or at least that you have a working fireplace." -- NY Press