38 SPECIAL TO RELEASE LIVE ALBUMLIVE FROM TEXAS Hits Stores August 30
After more than three decades together, 38 SPECIAL continue to bring their signature blast of Southern Rock to over 100 cities a year. At every stop, fans ask the same question: “When are you going to record a live album?” And it’s for those very fans the band has recorded LIVE FROM TEXAS, an explosive collection of the band’s signature songs that are engrained in the fabric of American music that will hit stores August 30, 2011.
The notion of releasing a new live album started to take precedent around the fall of 2009. A desire was growing to showcase a new spirit of 38 SPECIAL, a band that had matured into a tighter unit with an innate ability to read each other on the stage after thousands upon thousands of miles on the road.
“For LIVE FROM TEXAS, we brought our digital equipment out with us and recorded the shows using direct inputs and special audience mics. Then we took it all back to our studio for remixing,” said 38 SPECIAL co-founder/guitarist/ vocalist Don Barnes. “We wanted to experiment with the new audio technical advances gained in the last decade. The plan was to make it sound like you’re right there in front of the band with the audience all around you, a sense of ‘being there.’ So, I think there’s a noticeable difference. It just rocks! Those crowds out in Texas were massive and all of the classic songs deserved a chance to shine in an enhanced live fashion. I think we were finally able to deliver what we represent onstage.”
Their initial idea was to make a live recording available exclusively at the band’s shows, with an eye toward having fans take home a copy to carry on the party. But what they found as they listened back – after gleaning select tracks from various cities across Texas – was a blistering new set with a distinct difference in performance as well as audio quality than years before. It grew into an excitedly motivated plan to make available to the world 38 SPECIAL – LIVE FROM TEXAS, a collectively proud history of a band that has made the road a part of its heritage.
In addition to the numerous hits and rock anthems – “Rockin’ Into The Night,” “Caught Up In You,” “Back Where You Belong,” “Fantasy Girl,” “Hold On Loosely,” and “Chain Lightnin,” – there is much more. The album also includes a seven-song medley of other popular cuts, as well as a surprise appearance with co-founder/vocalist Donnie Van Zant being joined by his younger brother, Johnny – current lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd – on the only live version of their Van Zant country hit “Help Somebody.” The band later goes even wilder on a bombastic encore to reveal some past influences, with rousing renditions of “Back In The U.S.A.” and “Travelin’ Band.”
The high-energy compilation is highlighted by the vocals and guitar work of Danny Chauncey, with Bobby Capps on keys and vocals, bassist Larry “LJ” Junstrom holding the bottom together, and drummer Gary Moffatt providing the driving beat.
“And the magic’s still there,” adds Van Zant. “It’s an emotional high for us to keep ‘bringing it’ after all these years. That’s what you hear on the new live stuff, that sense of urgency and power.”
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