Giving the boot to America Yeah

July 12, 2010 by Leslie Ventura 

Vegas act calls it quits, but for some, new music is already in the making

Locals can say goodbye to Vegas’s indie sextet America Yeah, who had their last show together yesterday at The Thunderbird Lounge.

The group is calling it quits despite their growth as a local favorite this past year.
Their album “No Tenderness” was well received and UNLV students voted them the second best local band in Vegas, but the members have agreed it’s time to move on to better things.

“I guess it came down to having no gas in the engine for America Yeah,” said Logan Lanning, singer. “I don’t think anyone really had the energy to devote the time that was necessary to pick this band up and run with it. Everyone is bummed with the outcome but the decision was obvious.”

Multi-instrumentalist and UNLV alumnus Chad Felix agreed that the group had run its course.

“This made it hard for us to justify putting forth the great amount of time needed to keep a six-piece band on the rise,” Felix said. “The initial momentum and excitement had dissipated.”

Old Yeah fans need not be too alarmed.

Now that the guys have some extra time in their schedules, some of the members are already working on new projects.

In the short term, Felix intends to release a single under his moniker “Lazy Goods” and saxophonist Leland Naylor is attending school in San Francisco for bassoon and saxophone this fall.

Dan Conway, drummer, and Lanning’s first performance separate from America Yeah was June 3. Though they didn’t perform any new music under their new name, GoldBoot, they are excited to get the ball rolling.

“I think that with GoldBoot, it seems apparent that me and Dan have a new love for disco,” Lanning said, although he doesn’t pin that as the sole direction of the band.
“The sound is becoming very soulful, very disco and very new for us, which is super exciting.”

After playing with America Yeah, the guys all seem to have one similar goal: to not sound like America Yeah. Though they risk losing some of their original fanbase, each artist is taking their own unique direction.

“Playing in America Yeah was an adaptive process,” Felix said. “Upon my entrance, the band’s style was almost fully formed. I was only asked to fill in the blanks as I liked.”
America Yeah’s poppy, tropical indie-rock required the teamwork of everyone in the band. For friends Lanning and Conway, they see their move to GoldBoot as a way of exploring many of the same creative and musical goals.

Now as a disco duo, they note the complexity in the musicianship as being the biggest difference between the bands.

“Working with great musicians like Leland, Corey, Tyler and Chad, you are blessed with that variety,” Lanning said, although GoldBoot will be much more singular.

“I guess its kind of cliché,” Conway said, “but I just want to succeed while making the music I love to make.”

Lanning and Conway are currently working on a few new songs, one of which they plan to record in the Palms and make a music video for soon. Lanning said they should be ready to record in a month.

Vegas may find the guys hard to forget, but fans should have plenty to look forward to.
“I know that everyone will be successful in whatever it is that they pursue,” Naylor said. “America Yeah had so much talent that I can’t see anyone from this group being unsuccessful.”

Editor’s note: Leland Naylor will attend school in fall 2011, not fall 2010.