38 Special are marking their 50th anniversary by releasing their 13th and first studio album in 21 years.
Titled Milestone, band co-founder, vocalist and guitarist Don Barnes says, "After all this time, we wanted to create a more modern 38 Special album. This is a fresh, updated approach to the sound we've been making together for so long. Why not make a big statement after all these years? When you're reintroducing yourself to the world, 'good enough' doesn't work anymore. If you're gonna do it, you might as well go big."
It contains nine songs, eight of which were co-written by Barnes and Jim Peterik from Survivor and The Ides of March, who co-wrote 38's three biggest songs -- "Rockin' into the Night," "Hold on Loosely" and "Caught Up in You."
"Jim is such a brilliant musician," says Barnes. "He wrote [Survivor's] 'Eye of the Tiger,’ 'Heavy Metal' for Sammy Hagar, and all of the Survivor hits. He literally wrote the book on songwriting; it's called 'Songwriting For Dummies'. He’s been my co-writer brother for decades and is a lifelong friend.”
Randy Bachman co-wrote "Long Long Train" with Barnes, and Train's Pat Monahan sings on "Slightly Controversial."
The first single, "All I Haven't Said," is out now. Barnes, who wrote it with his wife Christine and Peterik, says, "That's my throwback to the '60s, inspired by bands like The Searchers. I've always loved that jangling guitar sound and what's old is new again. We just inject more power guitars to it.”
They also cut a video for it, which you can watch below.
Milestone will be released on September 19th.
38 Special are on tour with Kansas this summer with the next show scheduled for Saturday in The Woodlands, Texas.....and on Sunday, they'll play the Toyota Music Factory in Irving.