Long Lost Prog Rockers Art in America to Release New Album

Art in America has announced the arrival of their second album, Rise, which will land Sept. 19 on CD and limited edition vinyl via Iconoclassic Records. You can watch a video below for “Running By,” the first single.

The label will also reissue the Detroit-bred group’s self-titled 1983 debut, remastered for the first time from the original master tapes by Vic Anesini. The expanded reissue features two previously unreleased live bonus tracks. Both albums include extensive essays written by Ralph Chapman (Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band From Texas).

The Origins of Art in America

The first band to feature the concert harp as a main instrument, their debut album found them collaborating with guitarist Steve Morse, who helped arrange the songs and also contributed a solo to “Undercover Lover.” Yes associate Eddy Offord engineered and produced the sessions, putting his inimitable stamp on the recordings. Though the band subsequently played gigs with heavyweights like U2, Roxy Music, King Crimson and Adam Ant and received airplay on MTV with the song “Art in America,” a follow-up to their initial release never materialized and the members eventually went their separate ways.

How the New Art in America Album Came Together

Rise reunites the original five members of Art in America — Chris Flynn, Dan Flynn, Jim Kuha Shishonee Flynn and the late Garry Galloway — for their first proper album since 1983. Demos the group originally recorded that year for a planned sophomore effort were  painstakingly transferred to digital in 2017 and they found they had some potent material to work with.

“These were good songs, and they were recorded really well back then,” bassist Kuha tells UCR. “We had just come off of doing a lot of live shows in support of the first album, so we were playing really well. We were playing amazingly well, probably the best we ever had as a band, in my opinion. So at that time, management said, ‘Okay, we need to stop the shows. You guys need to go into hibernation and start writing.”

“It was a very quick session,” vocalist and guitarist Chris Flynn adds. “I think that was one day and we did about 15 songs and then went back in and did the last song, ‘Looking Back,’ on a Sunday. We spent the next day mixing, but it was just a quick mix.”

READ MORE: Top 50 Prog Rock Songs

Amazingly, according to the pair, fans will hear a good amount of what went to tape over those handful of days in 1983 preserved on Rise. “Maybe 70 or 80% is from those original tapes,” Kuha shares. “We went in and we did overdub some guitars and vocals. ‘Show Me’ took a whole different right turn, so that one, we did a lot of work on. I think it’s so much better than the demo was. But some stayed really true to what we came up with originally.”

Watch Art in America’s ‘Running By’ Video

“It’s been a long time / There’s a lot to say,” Flynn sings in the opening moments of “Don’t Look Down,” which feels quite appropriate when considering the long path they took to this eventual new album from a simple moment where they had some initial conversations with no real intent. “We just said ‘Let’s get together and see what we can come up with,’ Kuha recalls.

“They’re on the timeline together,” Flynn offers, noting that since the songs were written in the same era as the debut record, there’s a natural continuity to the two albums. “Jim just did a great job at capturing that in terms of the way he produced this new album, We couldn’t be happier. I think that our fans are going to be very happy.”

Rise and the expanded reissue of Art in America are now available for pre-order.

Art in America, ‘Rise’ Track Listing

“Running By”

“Don’t Look Down”

“No Wonder”

“Wired to Worry”

“Fields”

“Show Me”

“Looking Back”

“Gia”

“The Mind’s Eye Trilogy”

I. “Goodbye My Love”

II. “In the Mind’s Eye”

III. “Peace of Mind”