Rich Turner

Meet Rich Turner from Safety Harbor, Florida.

I've been a big America fan since their first album came out in 1972 when I was a senior in high school in Largo, Florida, which is about 15 miles from where I live now. Like a lot of others at the time, when I first heard "Horse With No Name" I thought for sure that it was Neil Young singing but found out shortly thereafter that it was this brand new group called America. The next year I met my future wife, Adrienne, and she was also a huge fan. Needless to say, we both began to collect all their records and anything else we could find on them. We first saw them in concert in Lakeland, Florida in 1978 (Burton Cummings opened for them). We were situated right in front of the stage and it was nothing short of super. I believe this was the first concert tour they took without Dan Peek.

Over the years I've remained a huge fan and eagerly await their next concert in the area. I've seen them probably 7 or 8 times in all and quite a few of those in the last 7 or 8 years. The most recent was on Treasure Island, Florida on May 1, 1999. Once again, superb. Every time I play one of their albums (now CD's) it always reminds me of something that was going on in my life at that moment. Hopefully, America will stay together forever.

Feel free to send your comments or questions to Rich.