[Cover photo credit to Joe Suchman]

Colorado Rock band Firefall made a name for themselves in the 1970s and have been going ever since. They’ve often had notable members in their line up and have shared stages with some of the greatest musical acts of the 1970s and beyond. On May 23, 2025, they return with their second Friends & Family album via Sunset Blvd. Records, paying tribute to those relationships.

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

Founding member and guitarist Jock Bartley says:

When our first album came out in 1976 and hit it so big, we suddenly got to tour with just about everybody. Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Loggins and Messina, and many more.

Formed in 1974 in Boulder, Colorado, Firefall kicked off their career 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.

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”).

Friends & Family 1 put Firefall back on the road touring, and they’ll be hitting the road once more after the follow-up arrives, but with a set list mostly drawn from their 10-album catalogue of originals and multiple hit singles.

Bartley continues:

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. 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:

1. Love The One You’re With (Stephen Stills)
2. Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac)
3. Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield)
4. Longer (Dan Fogelberg)
5. Shakin’ (Eddie Money)
6. I’m Alright (Kenny Loggins)
7. I Need You (America)
8. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (The Byrds)
9. Let Me Love You Tonight (Pure Prairie League)
10. Sail On Sailor (The Beach Boys)
11. Christine’s Tune (Flying Burrito Brothers)Cool Change (Little River Band)