For anyone over the age of 40, there is a good chance the soundtrack of their youth includes a heavy dose of 38 Special.
And that soundtrack staple is set to perform at this year’s All-Ohio Balloon Fest, Thursday, Aug. 8.
Led by vocalist-guitarist Don Barnes, 38 Special is revered for its hard-rocking hits and power ballads that served as a sound track for the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Barnes said 38 Special shows are “high energy” for both the band and the fans.
“At the end of 95 minutes, we are exhausted and they are exhausted with us,” he said.
He said the band was “forerunners of the live show” and has decades of experience putting together a show.
He likened the shows to a ride that “just keeps climbing with a great climax.”
“When those lights go down and we all walk up those steps to the stage and hear that crowd roar, it’s a real rush to the head,” he said. “It feels like we’re getting ready to strap ourselves in and it just takes off from there.”
He added, “The whole vibe is just joy and happiness.”
Barnes said the band enjoys outdoor, festival type performances, like the All Ohio Balloon Fest, because each one in unique.
“We love these kind of things,” he said. “We are out there putting 100% into our shows, and at these festivals, it is ‘Come one, come all’ and these things can be beautiful because you have fans that are just having fun”
Completing the team is keyboardist/vocalist Bobby Capps, drummer Gary Moffatt, bassist Barry Dunaway and guitarist Jerry Riggs.
Barnes said each live performance is “a celebration of camaraderie and brotherhood.”
The band has released at least 15 albums with sales of more than 20 million. Additionally, the band has appeared on dozens of sound tracks, compilation albums and other artists’ albums. 38 Special has had 15 songs on the Top 100 list and nine Top 40 hits. Many radio listeners know the band for their arena-rock pop smashes, “Hold On Loosely,” “Rockin’ Into the Night,” “Caught Up in You,” “Fantasy Girl,” “If I’d Been the One,” “Back Where You Belong,” “Chain Lightnin’” and “Second Chance.”
Barnes said the band works to “unroll that entire history at each show.”
Even so, he said live shows are different now than when the band was just formed. Barnes said technology has made the sound “cleaner and clearer,” but so has he. He said that when the band first started performing for a living he was desperate and you could hear it in his voice.
“When you are playing nights and weekends, it’s just fun, but once you are trying to pay bills and eat from it, it gets tough,” Barnes said.
He said band members “believed in ourselves and were stubborn enough to stay with it.”
With success, the desperation left his voice.
“It is great to be able to stand up and relax and not be so desperate,” Barnes said.
He said that as he is having more fun, the band wants the fans to as well.
“We make sure everybody hears their favorite song,” Barnes said.
Barnes said the show will have a mix of the older 38 Special hits, as well as some from his solo album, ‘Ride The Storm.’
Barnes said that while it was just recently released, the album is older than people realize. He explained that more than 20 years ago, his record label gave him the opportunity to cut a solo album. He said he recruited “world class” musicians to play.
“We were all excited, slamming these things down,” Barnes said.
And then the record label was sold.
“That was pretty much the kiss of death,” he said.
Projects in the pipeline, including Barnes’ solo album, got shelved
He said the album just sat until several years ago a producer from Australia called, wanting to make it a reality. Unfortunately, the studio and the label had scrapped copies of the recordings.
“It turns out, I was the only one in the world with a copy of the album,” he said, noting it was on a two-track, reel-to-reel recording.
Barnes said the album was “a rock classic” when it was recorded.
“There are some great songs,” Barnes said. “It is still relevant today.”
Members say it is odd to think about the songs they wrote and played four decades ago, still being played on the radio, still being relevant.
Barnes said, early on, band members recognized it was better to have a long career of radio hits than to be “the flavor of the month.”
“We went the rout of having a lot of songs on the radio and that people knew,” Barnes said.
And the fact that 38 Special songs are still played on the radio and people still know them?
“We are just so happy,” Barnes said. “It is so unexpected.”
He talked about the early days of the band, struggling at sailor bars in its hometown of Jacksonville, with contemporaries like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws, even Tom Petty.
Band members had day jobs and would play or practice in the evenings. He said one of the early practice venues gave rise to the band name. Barnes said the band would rent a building outside town so it could practice loud and late into the evening. He said band members would keep their instruments and equipment at the building, so it needed to be secure. He said they ran a thick chain through the door and cinder blocks of one particular building. Then the key was lost. Band members would get into the building from the roof and through a hole.
At some point, law enforcement officials became aware of the building and decided to stage a raid.
“I guess they figured it was some wild party because of the noise,” Barnes said.
When police arrived, the band was so loud members couldn’t hear them pounding on the door. When the music stopped, law enforcement told the band to come out.
“We yelled back through the door that we couldn’t because of the lock, and one of them, an old cowboy type, said ‘I got a 38 special I’ll let do the talking,’” Barnes said.
Band members thought the incident was funny.
“We didn’t have a name for the band and we thought we would take that til something better came along and here we are,” Barnes said.
He said his whole career has been that way. He said he never imagined he would spend more than 40 years singing his songs and making people happy.
“It is a great job,” Barnes said. “I get to spread joy.”
He added, “We really all need some of these good things in the world.”
38 Special will be performing at the All Ohio Balloon Fest Thursday, Aug. 8 at 8 p.m. Dan Orr Project will open at 5:30 p.m. Gates for the festival open at 5 p.m. Tickets for the festival are available at the Journal-Tribune office, 207 N. Main St., Marysville, or online at www.eventbrite.com. Festival procedes benefit the Hope Center.