One of the most iconic and longest-lived bands of the Southern rock era, 38 Special is headed back to the Natural State for a much-anticipated show during the Arkansas State Fair. The ticketed concert is slated for 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at historic Barton Coliseum on the state fairgrounds.
Formed in 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida, by pals-to-this-day Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes, the band would be an especially fruitful sprig on the genre’s family tree. The group had an impressive pedigree in Donnie, the brother of Ronnie Van Zant, founder and lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd and one of the patron saints of Southern rock.
Elbowing for space in a field that included future heavyweights The Marshall Tucker Band, The Outlaws, Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet, 38 Special would, by their third album, develop their own sound, one that was more melodic and more polished than what their contemporaries were doing…