Two decades of playing it all - that's American Made's music

Nat Wyner and Sharon Lynne, the drive behind the Murrietta, Calif.-based band known as American Made, have only one goal - to keep playing music until they are forced to get real jobs.

Even though they admit that after 20 years of doing what they love, the chances of them doing anything else gets less likely every year.

"I was a music teacher for three years, and I kept thinking I can do this as well as the people doing it," Lynne said. "I couldn't handle it anymore. It was either become a musician, or kill myself."

Wyner, Lynne's husband, said, "Playing music will always beat having a real job."

"I learned the violin as a child. Picked up the guitar as a teenager. In college, I got interested in bluegrass so I learned the fiddle. That's just kind of how it's gone," Wyner said.

"We don't use set lists because we know between 300 and 400 songs. There is some kind of fiendish pleasure in keeping the band on its toes," Wyner said.

The band consists of Lynne on vocals and keyboards; Wyner on vocals, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar; Al Wentworth on vocals and bass; John Hunt on lead guitar and vocals; and Paul Madafferi on drums.

American Made is scheduled to release its second album, "Heart to Haggard," in July, almost a decade after its first release, "40 Miles from Lonely" became available.

"We do everything - classic rock, funk, disco, the Beatles, country and easy-listening. It really is everything from Merle Haggard to the band Heart," Wyner said.

Part of the reason for the diversity is to try to reach as many members of their audiences as they can.

"We get to know the people we play for, and we know the songs they like," Lynne said. "We have a wide variety of songs. So if you aren't interested in what we are doing, just wait 10 minutes, and it will change."

Through the years, the band has watched members come and go for one reason or another, but under the leadership of Lynne and Wyner, its mission has remained the same.

"We want to people to come to our show, feel good, and forget their troubles like playing music lets us forget ours," Lynne said.

American Made performs at the Carson Nugget Tuesday through June 4 and at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino in Reno June 13-18.

Check www.americanmadeband.com.

• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.