with support Tommy Townsend

After more than four decades, 38 SPECIAL continuesto bring their signature blast of Southern Rock to over 100 cities a year. At each and every show, thousands of audience members are amazed by the explosive power of the band’s performance.

Their many Gold and Platinum album awards stand in testament to the endurance of a legendary powerhouse.

With sales in excess of 20 million, most associate the band with 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’,” “Second Chance,” and more – Timeless hits that remain a staple at radio, immediately recognizable from the first opening chord, and paving the way to their present-day touring regimen.

Guitarist/vocalist DON BARNES says it’s all about maintaining that intensity in their live shows. “We never wanted to be one of those bands that had maybe gotten a little soft or complacent over the years. We’re a team, and it’s always been kind of an unspoken rule that we don’t slack up, we stack up. We go out there every night to win.”

Completing the team is bassist BARRY DUNAWAY, drummer GARY MOFFATT and keyboardist/vocalist BOBBY CAPPS. The most recent addition to the band is legendary virtuoso guitarist and vocalist JERRY RIGGS.

For 38 Special onstage, it is a celebration of camaraderie and brotherhood, a precision unit bringing the dedication and honesty to a long history of classic songs, as well as surprisingly fresh new material.

Since 1976, the band has released more than 15 albums. And from the start, they’ve toured relentlessly, bringing their signature brand of ‘muscle and melody’ to fans worldwide.

It is that steely determination that lives on in the hearts of these ‘Wild-Eyed Southern Boys.’

Barnes adds, “This music keeps our wheels on the road. We’re a band that’s tried to stay honest with what has driven us over the years. We started out with nothing but bold determination to make our own history and to endure. Looking back now, it has been our greatest pride to have persevered and attained that level of success and longevity. For us, it’s the ultimate validation.”

“The magic’s still there,” adds Barnes. “It’s an emotional high for us to keep ‘bringing it’ after all these years. 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. It feels like we’re getting ready to strap ourselves in and it just takes off from there.”

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Tommy Townsend

Country music is at its best when it honors the past while blazing a trail toward the future. Few artists can bridge the genre’s most beloved traditions while carving a path of their own, but Tommy Townsend successfully inhabits that unique space.

The Georgia native actually began recording his “new” album Southern Man more than 25 years ago working with Country Music Hall of Famer Waylon Jennings and his legendary bassist Jerry Bridges. Townsend met Jennings when he was just a kid and never dreamed his idol would one day become his mentor.

Townsend has also spent years on the road, performing as a solo artist and as part of Waymore’s Outlaws, a group that features longtime members of Jennings’ famed band The Waylors. “It was like going out on the road with your favorite uncles because every one of them would look after me,” he says of traveling with Bridges, drummer Richie Albright and steel guitarist Fred Newell.

 Townsend’s appreciation for his mentor is obvious in the album’s intro as Jennings’ voice introduces the artist when he opened a show for him in Georgia. It immediately signals that the listener is in for something special and song after song Townsend delivers in a strong, muscular voice that has been seasoned by life and influenced by the best.

“I’ve never even had the thought of quitting because music is so much a part of who I am,” says Townsend, who has also become a successful entrepreneur over the years. “I just feel fortunate to be able to share this music and honor Waylon’s legacy . . .and there’s a lot more to come!”