Formed in 1974, 38 Special is still led by co-founder Don Barnes. Guitarist and lead vocalist, he sang all the bands hits through 1987. Throughout the years the band has recorded a Double Platinum, 3 Platinum, and 2 Gold studio albums, which included 12 Top 10 hits! Their last studio release was Drivetrain. Award-winning Program Director Ray White, caught up with Don in July of 2018, at his hotel before a show to talk about being the heir apparent to lead the Southern Rock genre after the farewell tours of The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He also shares his insights into the making of his first solo album, Ride The Storm, that was released in 2017 after the tapes were lost in the record company’s shuffle after it’s 1989 recording. In our “showcase segment,” we feature The Charlie Daniels Band – another leader in the Southern Rock movement, that hit its stride in the 1970’s. Their last studio album was Nighthawk. For more information about our show, visit Classic Artists Today.
Ray's passion for music and the musicians, started as a youth listening to transistor radios under the covers at bedtime. The bands and performers he liked, he followed throughout their career. In 2005 he was fed up with the evolution of a majority of the music the radio stations were playing and began investigating the bands he grew up listening to in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. Radio wasn't playing any of those band's "new" songs, just the "classic" hits. Researching the industry for a year, Ray launched Classic Artists Today syndicated radio show - featuring "new" songs by "classic" artists and included interviews and classic tracks too. The show was carried by several dozen radio stations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. Featuring Rock/Pop musicians and bands, Ray and the show won several awards from New Music Weekly magazine. With the success of these shows, he launched Coool CAT syndicated radio show, 5 years later, featuring Soul/R&B/Smooth Jazz/Blues performers and bands. In 2017, Ray starting producing his show in a 30-minute podcast format. Today, you can hear his work at Sittin' In With The CAT and Sittin' In With The Coool CAT. The legacy continues!
