Art in America is an American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band that achieved success in the early 1980s. They are best known for their self-titled song "Art in America" released in 1983.

Background

The band was the first-known rock band featuring a

pedal harp The pedal harp (also known as the concert harp) is a large and technologically modern harp, designed primarily for use in art music. It may be played solo, as part of a chamber ensemble, or in an orchestra. It typically has 47 strings with seve ...

to appear on a major record label. Art in America was formed in 1980 by brothers Chris Flynn and Dan Flynn and sister Shishonee (real name Ruetenik). Harpist Shishonee, was formerly a member of the band The Trees Community. Joining Art in America was friend Jim Kuha. Originally called Father, the band's name was changed to 'Art in America' and under this name the group began opening for popular Irish & English pop artists such as U2 and

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

. In 1983, the group released their first studio album under Sony Music/Pavilion Records. Produced by

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and

Emerson, Lake and Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percuss ...

producer

Eddy Offord Eddy Offord (born 20 February 1943) is a retired English record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. Life and career Offord studied phy ...

, the album contained their most popular song "Art in America" which received airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

music television, and radio stations throughout the United States. The songs were co-arranged by

Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the lead guitarist of Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member of ...

who also contributed a guitar solo for the song "Undercover Lover". The guest keyboardist on the album was Terry "T" Lavitz. In hopes of a better deal in releasing a second album, the band moved to Los Angeles in 1985. However, the band found the

pay to play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...

gig situation in L.A. to be hostile and disappointing. The band still records music and loads to many internet sites for free song streaming, as well as album and singles for purchase. In 2011 the band was contacted by producer

David Hentschel David Hentschel (born 18 December 1952) is an English recording engineer, film score composer and music producer who engineered on George Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'' and Elton John's ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'', as well as for such a ...

to finally record a follow-up studio album. The album was first released in 2013, as The Hentschel Sessions and then re-released as Cloudborn with artwork and additional tracks in 2018.

Personnel

*Chris Flynn – Vocals, Lead guitar –

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– (1974),

Rickenbacker 330 The Rickenbacker 330 is part of Rickenbacker's 300 series of guitars, the series for which Rickenbacker is perhaps best known. The 330 entered the Rickenbacker product line in 1958, though at the time the 300 series of guitars was known as the "C ...

12 string *Shishonee Flynn –

Lyon & Healy Lyon & Healy Harps, Inc. is an American musical instrument manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois and is a subsidiary of Salvi Harps. Today best known for concert harps, the company's Chicago headquarters and manufacturing facility contains a ...

Pedal Harp,

Koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

, Tamboura *Daniel Flynn – Drums –

Fibes Drums Fibes Drum Company was a US musical instrument manufacturing company that produced drum kits. Founded in 1966, it was acquired by guitar manufacturing company C.F. Martin in 1970 which it sold the Fibes assets to Jim Corder in 1979, who subseque ...

Gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

bell tree, percussion *Jim Kuha – Bass

Rickenbacker 4001 The Rickenbacker 4001 is an electric bass that was manufactured by Rickenbacker as a two- pickup "deluxe" version of their first production bass, the single-pickup model 4000. This design, created by Roger Rossmeisl, was manufactured between 1 ...

Moog Taurus The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...

bass pedals, 12-string guitar –

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

*Garry Galloway – Keyboards

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they ...

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

Akai Akai ( ja, 赤井, ) is a Hong Kong manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was founded as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946. Grande Holdings in Hong Kong purchased the Akai brand, and now distributes various electronic produc ...

and

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

Discography

Albums

*''Art in America'' (1983) No. 176 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. *''Cloudborn'' (2018) *''Art in America'' – Performing live at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on March 8, 1983

Wolfgang's Vault Wolfgang's (formerly Wolfgang's Vault) is a private music-focused company established in 2002 dedicated to the restoration and archiving of audio and video concert recordings and the sale of music memorabilia. It began with the collection of the p ...

*''Art in America'' – Performing live at the Capitol Theater, Flint, Michigan on May 8, 1983

King Biscuit Flower Hour The ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'' was an American syndicated radio show presented by the D.I.R. Radio Network that featured concert performances by various rock music recording artists. History The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 19 ...

Singles

*"Art in America" (1983) No. 23 on the US Mainstream Rock charts *"Undercover Lover" (1983) No. 33 on the US Mainstream Rock charts

Album Art

The cover for the self-titled debut (commissioned and painted by ''Ioannis'') is featured in the book "1000 Record Covers" by Michael Ochs, and published by

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Taschen Comics, pu ...

. In 2018, in a reprise of his participation with the group, ''Ioannis'' commissioned the cover for ''Cloudborn''.

References

{{Authority control Progressive rock musical groups from Michigan American new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1980