If you believe America, in the desert, there ain't no one for to give you no pain. Here in Honolulu, though, a whole mess of the band's fans would likely pelt the duo of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell with plants and birds and rocks and things if they didn't play the hits that made them famous.

So rest assured, "A Horse With No Name," "Tin Man," "Daisy Jane" and even that song about alligator lizards will be on the set list when America returns for a concert at Blaisdell Arena on Tuesday.

Me, I wanted to chat with Beckley about the four or five songs America will pull from its old-school-sweet current disc "Here & Now." Co-produced by perpetual rock cool kids Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, the CD has won the '70s SoCal folk-rock hitmakers some of the best reviews of their almost-40-year career.

The secret of the disc's success? Fanboys Schlesinger and Iha took America back to what it did best in its pre-synthesizer, pre-"You Can Do Magic" glory days. The music is all about the rich harmonies, warm production, summery lyrics and crazy mellow vibe.

Even a couple of My Morning Jacket and Nada Surf covers on "Here & Now" come off sounding as if they were written expressly for America. A good thing, I promise.

We gave Beckley Five Questions about working with Schlesinger and Iha, while he waited for a flight at LAX last week.

America got a lot of positive ink this year for "Here & Now" and for working with Adam and James. I'm surprised that you and Dewey didn't consider doing something like this sooner.

This came about in such an organic way. I had been such a fan of Fountains of Wayne. The backstory is that it (started with) a two-year back-and-forth relationship with Adam Schlesinger ... as mutual fans talking and swapping songs. That led to his explaining this relationship to James Iha. One thing led to another ... and all of the building blocks led to this project, which was a really cool way for all of this to occur.

Who reached out to whom first?

I wrote to (Adam) first. I had been such a big fan of the group. I think "Utopia Parkway" was the first (Fountains of Wayne CD) I really got a hold of. But once "Welcome Interstate Managers" came out (in 2003), we just lived with it that summer (and) loved that album. ...

Adam is a huge pop music aficionado. ... His reach goes far beyond that group. ... And James and (Adam) have a (business) partnership. James had done this fantastic solo album called "Let It Come Down." And when you hear that, you realize that there's a whole different side to James than his involvement in Smashing Pumpkins.

They are very much a partnership. They bounce things off each other. And they both perform very different functions in the studio. Adam really relies on James' ear ... and is far more hands-on as far as adjusting the EQs (equalizers) and everything, (while) James is more esoteric. But (they're) equally as valuable in every way.

What I like about "Here & Now" is that it seems Adam and James didn't want to modernize America's sound so much as they wanted to take it back to the sound that made America great back in the day — the clean, melodic acoustic-based folk rock and pop of your classic hits. They're both obviously big America fans.

Yes. In fact, if anything, James was more the compass that was keeping ("Here & Now") on its mark. The reason I think they were so successful at creating what I think is one of the best America albums we've ever done, is that they just kept referencing "Homecoming" and "Holiday" and the great America albums. ... (The music) didn't go too far off in one direction. There weren't too many horns or too many strings. It kept to these basic elements. They really kept their eye on that target.

A lot of effort went into something that sounds very effortless.

Were they influential in getting Ryan Adams and Ben Kweller on board for guest spots?

James was quite close with Ryan. They had lived in the same building for a while. Ryan is an incredibly prolific, artistic and fantastic guy, but somewhat hard to pin down. ... He said, right from the start, "Sure, man. I'd love to do it." So from there it was really a case of, "We've got a verbal (agreement). Now how do we make that real?" (Laughs)

Ben spent a month or two trying to find the time and pin him down. When ... we (thought) he was on his way (to the studio), we cleared the decks (for him). He probably wrote five songs in the cab on the way over, he's so prolific. ...

You and Dewey have been partners in America for almost 40 years. What keeps you together?

I wish there was an easy way to sum that up. But we have been very fortunate in ... still enjoying each other's company.

I've seen countless classic bands that are almost forced to work together because they have to make a living. And that is truly not the case for us. We really do get along. We enjoy each other's company.

This is our fourth decade. It has been an unbelievable experience.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.