Steve Orchard

Steve standing in his music store on tax day (April 15) 2004. Click here to see some photos of Steve that were taken with Dewey and Gerry.

Meet Steve Orchard from Kingsford, Michigan.

I've always been an America Fan, but really caught the fire in 1974 when I was a young lad of 14 and heard "Tin Man". Since then, it's been a lifelong thing. Working in radio has given me many opportunities over the years to interview the singers and artists I had long admired, including the 3 members in America. I had my first contact with Dan Peek in 1984. He had appeared on an episode of "The 700 Club" at one time and had given an address for correspondance. I wrote to him, told him how hard it had been for me to locate the "All things are possible" vinyl. Dan promptly sent me the vinyl and his personal testimony. I maintained a correspondance with Dan for another couple of years. It peaked for me in 1985 when I had the chance to do a radio interview. He graciously gave me almost an hour of his time. I've also been fortunate enough to interview Dewey 4 or 5 times and Gerry once. I've worked 2 shows with the guys (1989 and the recent Norway, Michigan show in 1998) and they've always been very friendly to work with and very kind to speaking to us radio people.

I may not be the biggest collector of America Paraphernalia, but I do have my fair share! I often wonder if Gerry, Dewey (and even Dan) realize just how important their music is to people. Many of us like a lot of the tunes that never became big hits. Those songs hold special memories for us.

I live in Kingsford, Michigan and work as a music retailer at "the Music Tree" in nearby Iron Mountain. I worked in radio for years, and yet I still do the DJ gig stuff on the weekends. I maintain my allegiance to radio via the occasional work I do with WIMK-FM (K-Rock), the Station that had me as its Program Director from 1984-1992. I'm willing to correspond with any America Fans! While I am a Huge America Fan, I also like lots of other groups and singers. And my other hobbies include running, the martial arts, weightlifting, listening to even more music and watching a good James Bond movie! I'm 38 years old, married to Sandy and we have a 4 month old baby girl, Sara (named after "Sara Smile" by Hall & Oates" and America's song "Sarah" from the "Harbor" LP!)

Feel free to send your comments or questions to Steve.

Note from Webmaster: In May 1999 Steve put together a a quick and easy reference to the "outside" projects that America has been involved in through the years.