Who's Who in Firefall

JOCK BARTLEY is known for his melodic, tasteful and fiery lead guitar style - his playing has influenced many rock & roll and country rock guitarists who have come in later generations.

Born in Hutchinson, Kansas, Jock moved to the mountains above Manitou Springs, Colorado in 1959. At nine years old he began taking guitar lessons from the jazz guitar legend, JOHNNY SMITH, in Colorado Springs in 1960, calling his five year relationship with his teacher/mentor, “about the best thing that ever happened to me.” He was playing Bach and Duke Ellington by the age of 11 and 12, but then in 1964 The Beatles played on Ed Sullivan and changed the world. “That’s when I knew I wanted to be in a rock band.” And when a few years later, hearing recordings of Eric Clapton and B.B. King, his musical focus sharpened. After graduating high school, where he’d been an Honor Roll student and top scorer on the basketball team, Jock attended the University of Colorado in Boulder as an art major. “When I had to finally decide what I was going to do with my life – art, music, writing, drama – it was quite an easy decision. Playing guitar was the single best thing I did, and most fun.”

Leaving college to pursue music, he joined the Boulder-based band ZEPHYR, replacing Tommy Bolin as lead guitarist (who joined the James Gang and later, Deep Purple before his untimely death in 1977). Months after the Zephyr “Sunset Ride” album came out, the band broke up. In 1972, Jock was asked to join the touring band of GRAM PARSONS & THE FALLEN ANGELS, featuring EMMY LOU HARRIS. Gram had joined the BYRDS on the groud breaking “Sweetheart of the Radio” album, later formed THE FLYING BURRITO BRO with CHRIS HILLMAN and was a pioneer of the new musical genre, “country rock.” The Fallen Angels tour made many memorable stops from Texas to Boston, including a show in Houston where Neil Young and Linda Rondstadt sat-in onstage (Emmy Lou and Linda met that night and sang together for the first time). At Max’s Kansas City in New York City, Jock met Boulder resident, Rick Roberts, who’d replaced Gram in the Burrito Bros and had two solo albums out.

In 1974, Rick and Jock began jamming in Boulder with MARK ANDES, bassist from the progressive L.A. bands, SPIRIT and JO JO GUNNE. When LARRY BURNETT arrived from Washington D.C., FIREFALL was formed. A few months in, drummer MICHAEL CLARKE (formerly of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Bros) joined the band and FIREFALL played in Boulder and Aspen, perfecting the songs and sound! Rick, Mark and Jock were on tour with Chris Hillman on the east coast when Chris became ill – Larry and Michael were flown in and FIREFALL finished the engagement at the Bitter End in NYC, where Atlantic Records came to hear, soon signing them to a long-term recording contract. DAVID MUSE joined the band in rehearsals with producer, JIM MASON. Firefall recorded their first album at Criteria Studios in Miami, FL in the winter of 1975, during which his guitar hero, ERIC CLAPTON, was in the control room while Jock played the ‘one-take’ lead guitar track on ‘Mexico’. Jock laughs remembering, “It was a good thing I didn’t know he was watching, I wouldn’t have been able to hold my pick or play one note.”

STEVEN WEINMEISTER: Steven’s musical journey began on Sunday, February 9, 1964, when The Beatles began their conquest of America on the Ed Sullivan show. The experience of seeing the Fab Four live on television made Steven’s eight-year-old head explode and left a tremendous impression, and Steven became obsessed to make music his life’s path.

Even though his first instrument technically was tambourine — after much cajoling and badgering his parents purchased his first guitar at the age of 13 — a Wards Airline bass. It wasn’t long before he was the bass player in his first band (called Steamboat Gothic) in the eighth grade and made his first money playing music with the same band in the ninth grade.

High school saw Steven step away from playing in a band, but it nonetheless proved very important to his musical development. He became a “choir geek” in high school, singing in large choirs, small ensembles, and even musicals (Guys and Dolls). These years gave him experience with sight-reading, harmony singing, and proper vocal technique. The work in small ensembles and musicals taught stage blocking and stage presence, and more. This path continued into his freshman year of college at the University of Northern Colorado, where an audition landed him in the school’s top choir.

That same year, the choir performed Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” with the Denver Symphony Orchestra at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver and remains an exceptional highlight in his career. Other highlights include performing four times at the world-famous Red Rocks Amphitheater, and also playing the equally famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

After transferring to the University of Colorado at Boulder in the fall of 1974 to study, Steven returned to his rock-n-roll roots. (There was a band during his time at CU that was gaining quite a buzz around Boulder. That band? FIREFALL). There he formed a band with a good friend from school, Dano Goforth, just to make beer money on the weekends, and the new band began working in bars and nightclubs in the Denver area. What started as beer money on the weekends quickly turned into a career during a very successful 18-year run in the band Windfield. He also traveled the world doing DOD tours of U.S. military installations with the band. Among the countries Steven performed for the troops in during these tours were South Korea, Okinawa, the Marshall Islands, Germany, Bahrain, Bermuda, Cuba, Panama, Honduras, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, and the British Indian Ocean Territory Diego Garcia.

It was near the end of this time in the early 90s that Windfield opened a couple concerts for Firefall at the Buffalo Rose in Golden, Colorado . As a result of this pairing, Steven became friends with (then) FIREFALL bassist Bil Hopkins, and they kept in touch in the ensuing months. When Firefall began a search for a new singer in early 1993, Bil suggested that Jock Bartley consider hiring Steven.

Following a visit by Jock and Bil to hear Windfield live and a subsequent audition, Steven was hired to join Firefall in March of 1993, and played his first show with the band May 8, 1993. He remained in the band for the next 21 years until January of 2014.

During that time, FIREFALL experienced continued success, releasing albums Messenger (1995), Colorado to Liverpool (2007), and Reunion Live in 2009, and continued to tour the continental United States as well as tours of both France and Japan. They also appeared twice on “Music City Tonight” on the Nashville Network, and the band remained a popular concert draw, touring behind a wealth of radio-friendly ‘70s hits that continued to fill venues across the country.

Steven left Firefall in 2014 to pursue a print design job in the publishing industry. During that time he began performing with another band, an Eagles tribute called The Long Run, “Colorado’s Tribute to the Eagles.” During his time in the band The Long Run became highly successful, a run that continues for that band to this day.

But Firefall came calling once again and Steven made the decision to rejoin the band in 2021 and he remains to this day.

Some personal stuff?

Steven has a daughter, Taylor, who works in marketing in the medical industry but also sings.

He is happily single, still doing occasional freelance writing, editing, and design work.

He has many interests and as such has many arcane and useless facts stored inside his head (a band nickname for him is ‘Cliff,’ from the tv show Cheers). However, his two hobbies, which he is passionate about, are fly fishing and astrophotography.

Steven loves all sorts of ethnic food but hates, no, loathes, lima beans. Deeply. Passionately.

Blue is his favorite color.

Favorite bands and musicians include The Beatles (duh!), Steely Dan, Sting, Lyle Lovett, Billy Joel, Allison Kraus, Chris Thiele, and Tommy Emmanuel.

Whew! If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! Steven would like to express his thanks for all the support all these years from all those fans who continue to come to the shows and make what FIREFALL does such a joy.

We couldn’t do it without you!

JIM WADDELL: I started playing professionally when I was 15 years old in a cover band in Denver called Ridge Top. We covered songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Loggins & Messina, Marshall Tucker and others. Now almost 50 years later, we are finishing a new FIREFALL record which consists of songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Loggins & Messina, Marshall Tucker, and other groups that FIREFALL toured with back in the mid-1970s. So it seems I’ve come full circle.

My first instrument was piano when I was 11 or 12 years old. I took up saxophone in sixth grade and also worked in a music store. Many parents brought in the flutes that their kids didn’t end up liking much, and suddenly the store had dozens of flutes for sale. I looked over all of them and bought the one I liked best. Saxophone and flutes have very similar fingerings. I was off and running!

Later on in my first band, three of us from Ridge Top - Kerry Conner, Cactus Moser, and I - started working with Steve Taylor. At that time, Steve was a ground-breaking new wave / punk Christian Artist. We recorded an album in Denver called “Metdown at Madame Tussauds” on Sparrow Records, which ended up having several songs go into the Top Ten on Christian Charts and was nominated that year for a Grammy. We also toured nationally and internationally, including a few shows in Chile, one at a huge soccer stadium that got out of hand with a near riot, with armed police beating up crowd members in front of the stage, and other audience members yelling, ‘Death to the President’. The crowd started fleeing the stadium about the same time the band did. Ahh, the time of Pinochet!!!

I ended up moving back to Boulder, Colorado, and played with various bands, most notably Chris Daniels and The Kings. Besides playing locally, The Kings played a number of summer festivals in Europe, mostly in Amsterdam and other cities in The Netherlands. We went to Europe a dozen times. At the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, we met and jammed with David Bromberg, which turned into me touring and recording with him. And at those summer Telluride shows, we’d frequently be joined on stage by Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and once, Lyle Lovett (who liked playing with a tight horn section and soon formed his Large Band). I also toured and recorded with Al Kooper, famous from those iconic Bob Dylan albums.

I lived in Nashville for a few years, playing some gigs and trying to get some action in the studios. Then I lived in Miami for a year and eventually moved back to Colorado. I got hired to tour the South Pacific for nine months with Elik Pink and Sticks & Stones, in Guam and on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

I’ve worked sporadically with FIREFALL since the 1980s, for roughly 14 years on and off. Firefall’s original sax/flute/keyboard player, David Muse, was in the Marshall Tucker Band for quite awhile, and I got the gig, touring all over the country and recording on the band’s ‘Messenger’ album in 1994. And sadly, as David’s heath slowly went downhill in 2019 and 2020, I toured more and more with FIREFALL, playing shows all over. Most recently, I was asked to officially join the band in 2022. It’s really great recording this new FIREFALL album, ‘Friends and Family’, due out in the Spring of 2023 - such fun respectfully putting our own musical slant on these rocking 1970s songs by other groups.