.38 Special

• Genre: Southern Rock
• .38 Special Website

About

Throughout the 1980s, .38 Special churned out hit after hit with their studio-perfected brand of Southern Rock that had checkered sneaker-wearing teenagers speeding through red lights and filling stadiums at an alarming rate. Taking his cue from older brother Ronnie's band Lynyrd Skynyrd, Donnie Van Zant employed a blistering twin guitar boogie attack, then married this down-home sound with arena-ready anthems and overblown production values. The impossibly catchy hooks in rockers such as "Hold on Loosely" and "Caught up in You" are firmly embedded in the public consciousness and can be heard in suburban bars nationwide to this day. For the past ten years or so, .38 Special has been tirelessly touring the country, releasing very few records. Their sound has mellowed with age, easing up on the slick Dodge Ram rock of the past and stripping things down to acoustic ballads akin to Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" in the hopes of attracting an older audience.

- Mike McGuirk