Firefall Releasing 'Friends & Family 2' This Spring

Firefall have announced that they will be releasing "Friends & Family 2" on May 23rd, featuring their continued take on some of classic rock's biggest hits. Hello Wendy shared the following details:

Over their storied career, Colorado soft rock standouts Firefall shared stages, and sometimes members, with some of the greatest musical acts of the 1970s - and of all time. In May 2025, they return with their second Friends & Family album, paying tribute to those relationships, the heady days of the pre-Internet music business, and some of the most enduring tunes ever penned.

Friends & Family 2 features Firefall's loving takes on hits by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, the Beach Boys, and Kenny Loggins, with special guests including country star Wynonna Judd, Buffalo Springfield co-founder Richie Furay, and former Elton John/Hall & Oates bassist Kenny Passarelli.

"When our first album came out in 1976 and hit it so big, we suddenly got to tour with just about everybody," explained guitarist Jock Bartley, Firefall's remaining founder member. "Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Loggins and Messina, and many more."

Formed in 1974 in Boulder, Colorado - then a musical hotbed where the likes of Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, and Byrds' bassist Chris Hillman all lived -, Firefall lit up AM and FM airwaves with Top 10 hit "You Are the Woman" in 1976 and continued scoring hits through the early '80s, including "Just Remember I Love You," "Strange Way," and "Cinderella." Along the way, its members included Rick Roberts of The Flying Burrito Brothers, Mark Andes (Heart), Michael Clarke (The Byrds/Flying Burrito Brothers), and Tris Imboden (Chicago/Crosby, Stills & Nash).

Friends & Family was the brainchild of Firefall's manager Len Fico, who also heads their label, Sunset Boulevard Records. After the original 2023 album was so well received, Fico encouraged Bartley and his current bandmates to record a follow-up.

"I've got the new band with Steve Weinmeister and John Bisaha. Frankly, that's the best vocal band we've had in over twenty years - and maybe ever. I think the singing on Friends & Family 1 shows that," said Bartley, who also produced both Friends & Family albums. "So, I was happy about getting back into the studio to cut twelve more songs."

Friends and Family 2 includes songs by artists that could've been on the first volume, had space allowed, such as Stephen Stills ("Love the One You're With"), America ("I Need You"), and Eddie Money ("Shakin'"). Other acts with particularly strong Firefall associations receive tributes on both Friends & Family volumes, such as the Byrds (whose "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" appears on Volume 2), The Flying Burrito Brothers ("Christine's Tune"), Dan Fogelberg ("Longer"), and Fleetwood Mac ("Go Your Own Way").

"We were chosen to open dozens and dozens of shows for Fleetwood Mac on their Rumours tour," said Bartley. "At that time, that was the biggest album and biggest band in the world, by far. We were good enough and had songs enough and radio play enough to be one of their main bands of choice to open."

Both Friends & Family volumes include both faithful renderings of classic hits and Firefall's own, always respectful interpretations. For example, on Friends & Family 2 they add drums (played by Highway 101's Scott "Cactus" Moser) and more electric guitar to Stephen Stills' anthemic "Love the One You're With," plus backing vocals by Wynonna Judd.

"I knew that I wanted to put a drummer on it because it was crying out for drums," offered Bartley. "We either keep the songs we're doing really close to the original ... or take some liberties and move things around a little bit."

Friends & Family 1 put Firefall back on the touring map, and they'll be hitting the road once more after the follow-up drops, but with a set list mostly drawn from their 10-album catalogue of originals and multiple hit singles, that also included "Headed for a Fall," "Staying With It," and "Runaway Love" in the 1980s.

"With Friends & Family, we're really tipping out hat, acknowledging, and respectfully playing songs from the late '60s and the entire great decade of the 1970s which, frankly, will never happen again," Bartley concluded. "And there are so many people in their thirties, forties, and fifties who don't even know this music."

Track listing for Friends & Family 2:
Love The One You're With (Stephen Stills)
Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac)
Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield)
Longer (Dan Fogelberg)
Shakin' (Eddie Money)
I'm Alright (Kenny Loggins)
I Need You (America)
So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star (The Byrds)
Let Me Love You Tonight (Pure Prairie League)
Sail On Sailor (The Beach Boys)
Christine's Tune (Flying Burrito Brothers)
Cool Change (Little River Band)

News > Firefall