Classic Hit Band, Firefall Available for Interviews to support new video and upcoming album, Comet, due December 11 on Sunset Blvd. Records
Firefall’s “Way Back When” music video opens with
the band’s original bassist Mark Andes comparing the turbulent 1960s with
challenges people are going through nowadays. He ends his observation with the
hope of “Maybe music will help us get through this storm together.” Then we
hear chiming chords, and see Firefall lead guitarist/singer/co-founder Jock
Bartley singing about life and love, recalling many classic musicians of the
1960s--the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Van
Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, the Rascals, CSN, Credence Clearwater
Revival….. Jock says, “The first verse and first chorus are set in
1965. The second verse and chorus are ‘67, and the third verse and chorus is
’69. It’s a loving retrospective of how great the music was back
then.”
Produced by Jock’s son Jamey, the “Way Back When”
video shows memories of screaming fans, war and hate, Woodstock, and photos of
45 RPM singles and artists, interspersing with a band performance. Watch
the video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_WfrgogTXM
Jock and his bandmates: bassist Mark Andes,
multi-instrumentalist David Muse (sax, flute, keys), drummer Sandy Ficca, and
singer/guitar player Gary Jones are heralding their latest album, COMET on
Sunset Blvd. Records--out December 11, 2020. Since the release of their
last new album, 1994’s MESSENGER, Firefall
has kept up a hectic touring schedule of 80 plus dates a year, appearing at
Performing Arts Centers, festivals, fairs and casinos. Since 2012, with
original members Muse and Andes returning to the Firefall family, the band has
been writing and recording as time permitted around tour
dates.
Over the
last ten years their 70’s chart-topping singles “You Are The Woman,” “Just
Remember I Love You,” “Strange Way,” and others, have continued to delight
perennial fans as well as a younger audience captured by the popularity of the
Yacht Rock genre. The goal with COMET, was to recreate
the elan of the original records in a contemporary format.
COMET was recorded in
Colorado and Nashville, in conjunction with appearances in those
markets. COMET was a group effort and allowed every member to
shine. Highlights include Jock’s “There She Is,” a positive love song,
“Before I Met You,” and “New Mexico” reminiscent of the group’s 1976 FM radio
hit “Mexico,” a fan favorite. Firefall’s newest member Gary
Jones wrote “Never Be The Same” about his mother passing away. “Hardest
Chain” was co-penned by Sandy Ficca and Colorado songwriter Tony Rosario. The
band recorded Spirit’s “Nature’s Way,” an environmental anthem song about the
end of the hippie movement; Mark Andes (originally in Spirit) sings lead with
the Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit singing along and the Doobie Brothers’ John McFee
playing guitars.
Nashville’s Gary Burr wrote “Younger.” “Ghost Town” is a Tony Joe
White original from the 1970s. The late Virginia rocker Robbin Thompson (a
member of Bruce Springsteen’s first band and a longtime friend of Firefall)
wrote, “A Real Fine Day.”
The cover of the new album is Comet NEOWISE, which lit up the
Oregon coastline’s nighttime sky in July 2020. That image is reminiscent of the
striking artwork on the band’s 1976 debut album, Firefall, which Jock helped design!
Firefall formed in Boulder, Colorado in 1974. After their first
album, the group toured with Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, The Band, Lynyrd
Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Loggins and Messina, Chicago, Cheap Trick, Marshall
Tucker, and many others.
