Raised on promises....

THE SONG:
Recorded almost 41 years ago to the day, (4th of July 1976), Tom Petty's "American Girl" was one of three singles off of Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker's first album, the other two being "Breakdown" and "I Need To Know." While it never charted during it's initial release, it has become a rock staple on FM stations in the time since.

Tom Petty's sound over the past few decades is usually likened to Bob Dylan's, but his early records bore a sound more similar to Roger McGuinn and the Byrds. Not only is this evident in the guitar work of American Girl, but you can also hear the band using a Bo Diddley beat as it's base. ("When Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded “American Girl,” Petty told his bandmates to go for a “Bo Diddley” sound, recalled Stan Lynch, the Heartbreakers drummer at the time." - http://www.gainesville.com/news/20080602/rock-pioneer-bo-diddley-dies)

American Girl holds a place in Rock and Roll Urban myth lore, as being about the suicide of a female co-ed  who lept to her death from her dorm room balcony at the University of Florida. Local geography and similar song lyrics may have led creedence to that, but the myth has been quickly discounted by both Tom Petty, and the school on numerous occasions. "Urban legend. It's become a huge urban myth down in Florida. That's just not at all true. The song has nothing to do with that. But that story really gets around... They've really got the whole story. I've even seen magazine articles about that story. 'Is it true or isn't it true?' They could have just called me and found out it wasn't true." - Tom Petty. - (Zollo, Paul. Conversations with Tom Petty (2005) p.195-196) & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Girl_(Tom_Petty_song)

THE DESIGN:
Switching gears, this was created entirely in Adobe Illustrator. I purposefully took a more thoughtful approach to the color palette then I usually do. I tried to use colors that by definition were more complimentary to each other instead what I instinctively felt would look good. The halftones were a set of vectors I purchased from Go Media (http://arsenal.gomedia.us/shop/vectors/abstract-halftones-vector-pack/). The font I used for the text is called Glamour Brush Regular, which can be found here (https://creativemarket.com/Cultivatedmind)

I hope you enjoyed this month's design and little history lesson. I'm always looking for new classic songs with descriptive lyrics to interpret in my style. I've gotten a few suggestions, such as T.Rex's Bang A Gong, and Dr. Hook songs in general... (Cover of the Rolling Stone would be real fun), but please keep them coming. Tell me what you'd like to see. 

Thanks for being here. Until next time, "Take it easy baby, make it last all night".