How do you select a handful of songs to represent 250 years of America? What criteria can you use to capture a nation’s soul? A quick AI query suggests that somewhere between 100 million and 200 million songs have been written in the US over the past 250 years – trying to select just a few feels like asking a handful of movie extras to represent the entire population of Cairo.
Rather than a “Greatest Hits” collection, I wanted the tracks in AMERICA: 250 Years Young to highlight different facets of the American experience – so that curation of these songs was going to be just as important as their performance.
Three Pillars of 250
In choosing the tracks for this album I focused on three different spirits of this nation:
- A Spirit of Sound: Embracing both the brassy, marching-band confidence of a young nation as well as the quiet, soul-searching subtlety of a folk song.
- A Spirit of Play: Not being afraid to tell a tall tale or two, or enjoy the simple joy of a day at the ballpark.
- A Spirit of Hope: The intersection of patriotism, blessing – and responsibility.
Using these as guides still left a wide selection of options – you could easily make several albums from the songs that were not included (including the “Schoolhouse Rock” version of The Preamble). But once the track list was finalized, I realized that this was definitely the journey I wanted to take listeners on for this special anniversary.
A Community Concert in Your Pocket
When performing live in a concert, there is a definite structure to how programs are built – and I worked to replicate that flow here. This album is sequenced like a live event – it starts out big and bold, transitions through the heartland, and ends with a powerful finale. You can certainly jump to your favorites if you like, but don’t be afraid to just start at the beginning, hit “play”, and just sit back.
More information on AMERICA: 250 Years Young is available here. The new album will be available May 21, 2026 on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and all major streaming services.
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