On Friday, September 19, 38 Special released its first new album in more than 20 years, Milestone. The album, which celebrates the veteran Florida band’s 50th anniversary, is a collection of nine new original songs that finds the group giving a modern-rock upgrade to its classic accessible Southern-rock sound.
Videos by American Songwriter
38 Special frontman Don Barnes co-wrote nearly all of the tunes, mostly in collaboration with his frequent songwriting partner Jim Peterik, of Survivor and The Ides of March fame.
Barnes recently chatted with American Songwriter about the making of the album. The singer-guitarist explained that his agent, William Morris, suggested that 38 Special make a new album to mark the anniversary. Don admitted that he was hesitant at first, imagining it would be a “daunting” task, but eventually embraced the idea.
“It was not like anybody’s beating the door down for a new 38 Special record, but we have a lot of rabid fans out there,” he noted. Barnes said he began putting songs together around April 2024. He shared that work on the album was done in phases because of 38 Special’s busy tour schedule.
The main recording was done at Real 2 Real Studios, a facility owned by Collective Soul bassist Will Turpin. Turpin is a friend of Barnes, who lives in Atlanta, where the studio located. Don noted that he wanted to record the basic tracks live with the band, “so, we turned the room mics up and just bashed it out. Had a good time.”
Regarding his goal for what the album would sound like, Don said, “We did purposely try to have a more evolved, modern 2025 version of 38 Special.”
Working with Peterik on Milestone
As Barnes worked on the material for Milestone, he decided to call on his old friend Peterik to help him complete some songs. Back in the 1980s, Jim had co-written some of 38 Specials biggest hits with Don, including “Hold On Loosely” and “Caught Up in You.”
Barnes explained that he made multiple trips to Peterik’s home outside of Chicago to collaborate.
“He’s just a really giving songwriter,” Don noted. “And so, I had all these … sometimes half songs, three-quarter songs I would bring to him, and we’d tweak it and finish ’em out.”
About the New Song Barnes Co-Wrote with His Wife
The lead single from Milestone was a melodic, jangly power ballad titled “All I Haven’t Said.” Barnes says he loves the tune, which he and Peterik co-wrote with a little help from Don’s wife, Christine. He explained that a major influence for song was some of the jangly pop-rock groups of the mid-1960s.
“I’ve always been kind of an attentive student of good-structured songs that get on the radio,” Don told American Songwriter. “So that one was really my kind of throwback to the ’60s jangle guitars—The Searchers and The Byrds and all that.”
Regarding his wife’s contribution to the song, Barnes recalled, “She was in the kitchen. I was sitting in a dining room chair, playing some major 7th [chord], just kind of strumming … random chords. And she came around the corner and said, ‘That sounds like that should be called “All I Haven’t Said,” just a title, this, like, beautiful title.”
After that, Don explained that he sat down with a wife and they tried to come up with lyrics together. Barnes came up with the concept of a guy who is in a long-term relationship that’s is going through a rough patch because he hasn’t expressed his feelings for his partner and hasn’t been attentive enough to her.
“So I told Christine, my wife, I said, ‘How do you say something that’s just the ultimate phrase of love?’” he noted. “I said, ‘What about “I would shout it from the mountaintops”?’ And she said, ‘Ooh, what about “I would write it across the sky”?’ And I thought that was great. So, we put all those lyrics in there.”
“All I Haven’t Said” is the one song from Milestone that 38 Special has been playing in concert this year.
One New Song Features Train’s Pat Monahan on Guest Vocals
The second track released from Milestone was an edgy, funky tune titled “Slightly Controversial,” featuring a duet with Train frontman Pat Monahan.
Barnes told American Songwriter that the collaboration came about after he heard a cover of “Hold On Loosely” that Train recorded with blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa and released in 2024. Don contacted Monahan and asked if he wanted to sing on a new 38 Special tune, and Pat agreed.
“I sent him a couple of songs, and one was pretty mild,” Barnes recalled. “And … he said, ‘Yeah that one’s okay. What else do you have?’ So I sent … ‘Slightly Controversial,’ and it’s just angular and rude. He goes, ‘Oh, let’s go with the rude one.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ So he just crushed it. We had a great time together.”
Collaboration with Randy Bachman
Milestone also features a song called “Long Long Train,” which Barnes co-wrote with Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
The tune is a mid-tempo, melodic track with an introspective, socially conscious theme. Don said the collaboration with Bachman came about when he was in Nashville one day and his publisher asked him if he’d like to spend a day writing with Randy, who also was in town at the time.
“I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Barnes shared. “So, we had a great time together. We wrote the song ‘Long Long Train’ together. He added that the tune, which he started writing on piano, featured some “beautiful haunting chords.”
Barnes said that “Long Long Train” is among his favorite tracks to listen to from Milestone.
“It’s just haunting,” Don explained. “I [like] the production and the sounds and the chord pattern, everything. … It’s a social commentary thing, which we’ve never done.”
Barnes then shared with a laugh, “[W]hen we were doing it, [Randy] said, ‘Well, make sure you keep it vague, because if you start naming names, then you got a protest song. Just keep it vague, and [express that] you’re trying to understand the times we’re all in. You know, basically that.”
About “The Look”
The final song on Milestone is a romantic acoustic ballad called “The Look.” The tune was written solely by Peterik, but was based on the story of how Barnes met his wife.
“I told [Jim] how we met in an airport, and neither one of us lived there,” Don explained. “My plane was grounded from weather, storms, and everything, and she lived in Cincinnati. … She was going to Charlotte, [North Carolina.] And the seat next to me was empty. … I was so tired from being on the road for two weeks, and I was staring at a soccer game … and I hear this sweet voice, ‘Excuse me, is this seat taken?’ And I looked up, this beautiful woman standing [there].”
He continued, “I said, ‘Duh, no! Have a seat.’ … Anyway, we talked and … joked around. She had to [go.] Her plane was leaving. So I said, ‘Well, if one was to find oneself in Cincinnati, how would we?…’ And she gave me her card. She was senior vice president [at] PNC Bank. Beauty and brains, you know. So, she wasn’t gonna get away.”
Barnes added, “So anyway, I told Jim that story, and he … loves those kind of love stories, serendipity, kismet, you know, … so he wrote this [song]. And I wanted to give him all full credit, because it’s such a beautiful song. [And] he’s so grateful that I … kept it on the album. It’s the very last song. After all the rock stuff and everything, it was just a gorgeous song at the end, and it just lays everything down after the ride.”
38 Special’s 2025 Tour Plans
38 Special is on tour in the U.S. now. The band has almost 20 upcoming concerts lined up in 2025, plotted out through a December 12 show in Ledyard, Connecticut. 38 Special also has two gigs scheduled in 2026—a February 16 performance in Greeneville, Tennessee, and a April 19 concert in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The band’s itinerary includes a couple of dates supporting Kansas, as well as headlining shows, festival gigs, and state and county fair performances. On October 9, 38 Special will perform at Styx’s Rockin’ in Paradise vacation event and festival in Miramar Beach, Florida. Styx and John Waite also part of that day’s lineup.
(Photo by Nick Spanos)
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