Legends of Country Rock

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Firefall, Pure Prairie League, and Richie Furay

The genealogy and musical roots of FIREFALL run deep into the fertile soil of American rock and folk rock music. It began with Woodie Guthrie and later, Bob Dylan, evolving into the Byrds and the Buffalo Springfield. The genre established by these luminaries continued with Crosby, Stills and Nash, Manassas, The Band, Neil Young, The Eagles, Poco, Loggins and Messina, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons and Emmy Lou Harris, Dan Fogelberg, America and FIREFALL. Many of these participants mingled in the studio and on tour. Individually and collectively they created a sound that changed the world's musical landscape. FIREFALL is one of the few surviving bands of this genre, remaining true to its founding vision and roots despite personnel changes over its 40+ year history. The band transcends and embraces many industrial labels- rock, soft rock, country rock, contemporary country, easy listening and Americana.

From their beginnings in mid-Sixties Ohio as a group of friends playing cover tunes to the present-day unit featuring founding member/pedal-steel innovator John David Call, veteran bassist Mike Reilly, propulsive drummer Scott Thompson and guitar ace Donnie Clark, PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE continues to embellish the rich 43-year history of one of Country-Rock’s pioneering forces. As one reviewer recently wrote: “PPL’s sound combines sweet memories with edgy, contemporary muscle. Their vocals are as strong as Kentucky moonshine and the musicianship and performance skills are as sharp as a straight razor”. Their eponymous first album - featuring the Norman Rockwell/Saturday Evening Post cover that introduced fans to PPL’s trademark cowpoke “Sad Luke” - has been hailed as a “major early influence in the emerging popularity of Country-Rock music”. Their second effort, the multiplatinum “Bustin’ Out” brought us the Craig Fuller-penned classic “Amie”, along with other gems of the genre. With “Two Lane Highway”, nine more albums and countless shows, a legacy has been forged and enriched during the ‘70s and 80’s, highlighting contributions from several noteworthy members, including original co-founder George Ed Powell, Cincinnati’s legendary Goshorn Brothers, Country Hall of Famers Gary Burr and Vince Gill, award-winning writer Jeff Wilson (3 Top-20 singles) and a host of other guest appearances from Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, Emmy Lou Harris, David Sanborn, Eagle Don Felder, Nicolette Larson, and many more. Now in their fifth decade, Pure Prairie League continues to lead the way for the new generation of Country/Rockers such as Keith Urban, Nickel Creek, Wilco, Counting Crows and so many others that cite PPL as a major influence. As crisp and clean as spring water and as comfortable as a well-worn cowboy shirt, Pure Prairie League still brings it all back home.

After an astonishing 60-year career in music that included pivotal positions in Buffalo Springfield, Poco, the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, as well as several solo albums, RICHIE FURAY’s signature vocals still capture his voice with such incredible depth and beauty that even those who have been long-time fans and followers will be caught with wonder when seeing him perform as he approaches 80 years old. It is truly an artistic moment of reckoning when watching his dynamic stage presence and his connection with the audience. Richie Furay was born in Yellow Springs, Ohio and loved music from the start. His father listened to country music on the radio, and it caught Furay's ear immediately. There was something about the openness of the songs, and the emotional power of those that delivered them, both the singers and players. It wasn't long until rock & roll sprang out of country and blues in the early 1950s, and once the young Ohioan found that sound he knew he was home. Early doo- wop records rose to the front for a while, and when Richie Furay began guitar lessons and got his first guitar when he was eight years old, he knew that’s what he wanted to do. By the time the young man was attending college in 1963, he was a drama major and had won the freshman talent show. After a trip to New York with his college acapella choir, Richie returned the following summer to sing in folk clubs where he met Stephen Stills. Eddie Miller then formed the AuGoGo Singers with Richie and Stephen and his future was set. He describes it as an "inner optimism" that really took him into the heart of becoming a professional musician. It has been a career of constant progression and unending achievements. Once Stills and Furay joined with Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, Buffalo Springfield instantly became one of America's great bands. As they toured and recorded for the next three years, the group solidified their place in the history books. And when Furay left to form Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, Randy Meisner, and George Grantham in 1968, his permanent influence in Country Rock became assured. "Rock & roll and country, that's really what I'm all about," Furay explains. "It's the sound that first really touched me as a child, and it's stayed a constant in my life all these years, both personally and professionally. Even at the start of my career. I may have felt somewhat insecure, but I always believed in myself. And I knew enough to know to do what I wanted to do, because if I didn't I wouldn't be enjoying what I was doing. That was always a basic operating procedure for me. No matter what group I was in, I needed to really like what we were trying to play. And that's what is at the heart of my recording catalog and live concerts. I have always loved country music, and the idea of putting it together with rock & roll with a steel guitar seemed like a natural back at my start right up to now." From the earliest days of his onstage life, at this time there is an eternal feel to his vocals, like the man has tapped into the deepest aspect of life and conveyed all he has sung and learned into a crowning achievement of where he's been and where he's still going. When the electric and acoustic guitars team up, and the bass and drums of the rhythm section kick in and are joined by keyboards and the ever important steel guitar, there is such an undeniable celebration of music that comes across it feels like Richie Furay has unlocked the most immortal secret of who he has been all these years. He is joined by a spirit of life and love that only the very finest music can deliver. "This is what I am about: rock & roll and country," he states, and truer words were never spoken. By the end of his concert performance when the signature song from Poco, "A Good Feelin’ To Know”, is heard, it feels like a special gift being handed out at an illustrious event. A gift from one of rock & roll's true pioneers.