Jock Bartley is a founding member of the band Firefall. The group has run continuously since 1974 with Bartley being the only remember who has remained through the group’s entire run. The guitarist studied jazz early on before falling in love with The Beatles. He was the replacement for guitar hero Tommy Bolin in the band Zephyr after Bolin left to pursue other interests and ultimately joined Deep Purple. Bartley would go on to work with Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris before forming Firefall with Rick Roberts.
Firefall enjoyed Top 40 success into the early 1980s, though the original lineup dissolved around the turn of the decade. Despite these changes, the group has continued to perform live and record on a consistent basis, issuing an album of original material, Comet, in late 2020 which featured contributions from members of the Eagles, Doobie Brothers, and Desert Rose Band.
In 2023, the group issued a collection of covers titled Friends and Family and followed that in May 2025 with a second volume, featuring songs written and/or recorded by Little River Band, Kenny Loggins, Dan Fogelberg, The Byrds, and Eddie Money. Bartley adds that he’s keen to get the band back into the studio to work on new material in the near future.
We discussed the band’s origins, Bartley’s Kansas roots, Firefall’s time on the road with groups such as Fleetwood Mac, and the 1978 album Élan.
Host/Producer: Jedd Beaudoin
Digital Producers: Karlee Cooper, Beth Golay, Hugo Phan
Theme Music: Torin Andersen
