In the quest to mix and match various classic American musical genres and forge new forms, I needed to expand the palette. So I put together a four-piece horn section and a three-piece string section. Alas, the string section was the first thing to jettison, as I soon realized that this Spruce Goose would never get off the ground with so many players aboard. Out of the music emerged the photography book. By networking with photographers who have made documenting America their life’s work, I rounded up images that would flow together and get us from coast to coast. Migration attempts to document the American Dream through the evolution of our culture. This melting pot has taken the best elements of the world’s art forms and made some cool new stuff out of it: blues, jazz, rock, folk, country, hip-hop music … Hollywood films, baseball, drag racing, rodeos – you name it. It’s quite the three-ring circus and I’m proud to be a part of it. My humble contributions include four shots of the barn that used to be part of the old ranch where I live, just north of San Francisco. The barn was known as the “Sack House” as it had housed a burlap bag business for 70 years. —Donald McCrea Highway #1 ©2014 Edward Burtynsky
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