Editing Firefall (section)

=== Resumption and later work ===
[[File:Firefall 2010.JPG|upright=1.2|thumb|Firefall in 2010]]
Meanwhile, unhappy with the way things had turned out, Jock Bartley decided to put together a new Firefall lineup in the spring of 1982. At Ron Albert's suggestion, Bartley got together with two Miami-based musicians, [[Johnne Sambataro]] (during the '70s and '80s, he adopted the conventional spelling of John for his first name) and Chuck Kirkpatrick. Sambataro was a singer/guitarist/keyboardist/bassist/songwriter who had sung on record with [[Stephen Stills]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Dave Mason]], [[McGuinn, Clark & Hillman]], the members of the [[Bee Gees]] and many others. Johnne and Jock had actually met back in 1978 when they both played on the Criteria sessions for [[Andy Gibb]]'s platinum album ''[[Shadow Dancing (album)|Shadow Dancing]]''. Kirkpatrick was a singer–guitarist–keyboardist who had sung with Johnne on a number of the aforementioned sessions and had worked as an engineer at Criteria on such albums as [[Derek & The Dominos]]' ''[[Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs]]''.

Albert then brought in Alan Jacobi, a Miami entertainment lawyer who had a relationship with Atlantic, and Jacobi convinced the label to help resign the band.

So in the summer of 1982, Criteria sessions for the ''Break of Dawn'' LP began with Ron and brother Howard producing once again. Backing Bartley, Sambataro and Kirkpatrick were a number of Miami session players, with Stephen Stills and Rick Roberts making guest appearances. The album appeared in September 1982 and Bartley, Johnne and Chuck began auditioning additional players for a follow-up tour. Chuck's brother Scott (a top-notch session drummer who, like Johnne, had also played on record and toured with McGuinn, Clark & Hillman) and Colorado bassist Greg Overton were chosen and, at the last minute, David Muse decided to rejoin the band.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}

In the winter of 1983, Firefall set out across the U.S. to promote ''Break of Dawn''. But the single from it, "Always", failed to reach the Top 40 and quickly fell off the chart.

''Mirror of the World'' followed in November 1983, the title track a comment on the effects of TV violence on children. The album had a much harder edge than its predecessors, with more of an emphasis on an '80s style synth/drum programmed production, which many of the group's fans thought reflected too great a departure from the classic Firefall sound. Though the first single, the rocking "Runaway Love", written by Bartley, Sambataro, and Paul Crosta, briefly appeared in a video on MTV and received limited radio airplay, this album too failed to attract sales and quickly disappeared.

The group, once again dropped by Atlantic, nevertheless continued to tour, headlining in smaller clubs and opening in larger venues for groups like the [[Beach Boys]], [[Little River Band]], and [[Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band]].

In 1983 Overton quit (he would return briefly to play a few shows with the group in [[Medford, Oregon]] in July 1986 as a fill-in) and Muse decided to retire from touring again. Steve Hadjoupolos (sax, flute, keyboards, backing vocals) and Bob Gaffney (bass, vocals) were brought in and the group continued. Sandy Ficca was brought in to take over from Scott Kirkpatrick on drums in October 1984 (Scott then returned to play some final shows with the band in June 1985 before moving on permanently) and is still with them to-date.

On the evening of August 4, 1986, Chuck Kirkpatrick was leaving from a local club gig in the area of Florida where he resided. After breaking down on the road home, he was shot and wounded in the arm in a [[drive-by shooting]]; the shooter then fled the scene.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} The wound was serious enough to almost require amputation of Kirkpatrick's left arm, but doctors were able to save it and Chuck was able to play again after a difficult rehab period. Many [[Miami]] musicians, including [[Jon Secada]] and members of the [[Miami Sound Machine]], came to Chuck's aid, playing a series of shows to help defray the cost of his medical care and rehab. Firefall brought in Colorado musician Mark Oblinger to sit in for Chuck until he was able to return to the band in November 1986. But Kirkpatrick's tenure in the band was coming to an end. In late 1987, Gaffney left and Eddie Gleason came on in the interim. Then Chuck left at the tail end of 1987 after differences with Jock Bartley. Oblinger (who had subbed for both Chuck and Gaffney in 1986) returned as Kirkpatrick's permanent replacement in December 1987 and Bil Hopkins was the new bassist. Dan Clawson (ex-[[Pure Prairie League]]) came in as well to take the place of Hadjoupolos in early 1988 (Hadjoupolos passed away in 1991 after a bout with cancer).

In 1989, after seven years in Firefall, Sambataro decided it was also time to say goodbye. He moved on to join [[Dion DiMucci]]'s band. This paved the way for the return of Rick Roberts and in September 1992, Rhino Records responded to the demand to put out Firefall music on CD by releasing ''Firefall: The Greatest Hits'', which featured all of the singles and AOR favorites and one new song, "Run Run Away", about adult victims of earlier child abuse.

In the early/mid 1990s, the personnel shuffles continued. Roberts, who was suffering from health troubles, left again in the spring of 1992 to be replaced by Bruce Crichton, who turned it over to Steve Manshel in June 1993. Mark Oblinger departed as well and Steven Weinmeister came on board in May 1993. And after Dan Clawson left that same year, there were several people to occupy the woodwind–keyboards chair, including Bray Ghiglia (1993–1994), the returning David Muse (1994–1995; 2000–2003; 2011–2022), Jim Waddell (1993; 1995–96; 1998–2000; 2003; 2022–present), Bob Fisher (1996–1998; 2007) and Chris Ball (2003–2011).

While touring in 1993, Firefall encountered the [[Flood of 1993]]. One of their gigs was cancelled and a few had to be moved to higher ground. In response Jock wrote "When The River Rises", a song with an upbeat message of finding strength in adversity. The band recorded the song in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]] at Startsong Recording Studio, with engineer–programmer Tom Gregor co-producing with Bartley. "When The River Rises" was then brought back to St. Louis and played on the radio for the first time. At that point, the flood waters had still not crested. Vowing to donate a large portion of the publishing to flood relief, the song was sent to other radio stations in the flooded areas. It received heavy regional airplay and was also used by [[CNN]] and other TV stations behind coverage of the disaster.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}

With the band's profile raised, the search for a new record deal began. Some smaller companies showed interest. They decided to go with an independent Colorado based label, Redstone Records, who had had some successes in the smooth jazz genre. ''Messenger'' was recorded in Denver and Boulder and was released in September 1994. Bartley had been stockpiling songs for ten years for just this opportunity. Bil Hopkins's song "Say It's Over" (written with Mark Oblinger) and Steve Manshel's "Innocent Victim" also appeared on the CD. Mark Andes and [[Richie Furay]] made guest appearances on the album and Jim Mason returned to the producer's chair. ''Messenger'' was much more diverse than anything the band had released to date with the usual love songs and ballads, but there were also songs about child abuse, environmental catastrophe and even sexual abuse/rape in the chilling "No Means No". The first single, "Love Find A Way", received some minor play on some stations, but Redstone did not have the distribution clout to get the CD into all stores, so overall sales were disappointing.

Manshel, who had begun to take time off from the group to work on a solo album, left altogether in September 1999 to pursue his own career and the band reverted to a five-piece. Other than short-term fill-ins (Steve Jenks subbed for Hopkins in the spring and summer of 1998 and Gary Jones sat in for Weinmeister — who had a previous obligation to play a wedding in Belize — for a Firefall gig on November 12, 1999, opening for [[Journey (band)|Journey]] at the [[Warfield Theatre]] in San Francisco and one for Hopkins in June 2002), Bartley, Weinmeister, Hopkins, and Sandy Ficca continued on as Firefall from late 1999 until Hopkins left in 2014.

From 2005 on, Firefall would sometimes play a handful of shows annually as "Acoustic Firefall" in various combinations, with the most common being the trio of Jock, Steve, and Bil. And on April 9, 2008, at [[Boulder Theater]] in [[Boulder, Colorado]], there was a Firefall reunion concert that featured the current lineup joined by Mark Andes, David Muse, Larry Burnett, and original Firefall studio percussionist Joe Lala. Rick Roberts attended the show as well but was unable to perform with the others because of health issues. As previously mentioned, Michael Clarke had died in 1993. The reunion appeared as the CD ''Firefall Reunion Live'' in February 2009. Since 2008, Jock's son, Jamey Crow Bartley, sometimes guests with the band on drums and will fill in for Sandy Ficca on occasion. During the summer of 2011, David Muse, who just survived a bout with [[non-Hodgkin lymphoma]], returned to play shows with Firefall once again, alternating with Chris Ball before rejoining permanently.

Apart from Firefall, in 2012 original and then current Firefall members Jock Bartley and David Muse reunited with Rick Roberts and studio percussionist Joe Lala in the [[supergroup (music)|supergroup]] Boulder County Conspiracy. Other members of this band included [[Bobby Caldwell (drummer)|Bobby Caldwell]] ([[Captain Beyond]], [[Johnny Winter]], [[Rick Derringer]]), Max Combs, Allen Carman, and Billy Sandlin. They toured throughout 2012 performing songs by Firefall, Captain Beyond, [[The Marshall Tucker Band]], and [[Spirit (band)|Spirit]] as well as other originals and covers. They disbanded at the end of 2012.

In February 2014 founding member and bassist Mark Andes rejoined the band. In June 2014, Jace Hill (guitar and vocals) joined the band for a short spell to sub for Steven Weinmeister, who was back by early July. In November 2014, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame announced that Firefall would be among the 2014 inductees at a January 2015 event at the Paramount Theater in Denver.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://secondstorygarage.com/colorado-music-hall-fame-inducts-firefall-manassas-nitty-gritty-dirty-band-poco/|title=Colorado Music Hall of Fame inducts Firefall, Manassas, Nitty Gritty Dirty Band, Poco|date=November 16, 2014|publisher=Second Story Garage}}</ref> In late 2014, Steven Weinmeister departed Firefall after almost twenty two years but did return in January 2015 for the Colorado Music Hall of Fame induction and to sub for an ill Bartley later that same year for dates on the east coast, in August. He was succeeded by singer/guitarist Gary Jones (who had previously subbed for Weinmeister for the one aforementioned gig back in November 1999 and for a few other shows in September 2014).

By late 2014, Firefall's lineup was Jock Bartley, David Muse, Sandy Ficca, Mark Andes, and Gary Jones.

On January 9, 2015, Firefall was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame with  [[Poco (band)|Poco]], [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]], [[Stephen Stills]], and [[Manassas (band)|Manassas]], at the Paramount Theater in Denver.

Former Firefall bass player (in 1980) George Hawkins died on October 26, 2018, after a bout with cancer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bestclassicbands.com/george-hawkins-jr-obituary-10-29-18/ | title=George Hawkins Jr., Bassist for Many, Dies | date=June 15, 2015 }}</ref> Yet another former Firefall bassist, Bob Gaffney, also passed on in 2018.

In August 2019 after Mark Andes was sidelined after a hip replacement. Lance Hoppen (of [[Orleans (band)|Orleans]]), John Trujillo (a bassist friend of Sandy Ficca's) and former Firefall member Steven Weinmeister filled in for him.

The band released ''[[Comet (Firefall album)|Comet]]'', their first new album in nearly 20 years, and first with Sunset Blvd Records, on December 11, 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/music/things-to-do-listen-to-comet-by-firefall-11513235|title=Classic Rockers Firefall Drop First New Record in Two Decades|first=Bob|last=Ruggiero|date=November 30, 2020|newspaper=[[Houston Press]]|access-date=April 24, 2021}}</ref> The album featured a lineup of Jock Bartley, Mark Andes, David Muse, Sandy Ficca and Gary Jones.

In 2021 Firefall again did some shows as a trio, this time with Bartley, Jones and a returning Steve Weinmeister on bass, who ended up returning to the group to replace Jones going forward.

In 2022 David Muse was sidelined from touring after having once again fallen ill with cancer, that this time took his life on August 6, 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://celebrityaccess.com/2022/08/08/american-singer-songwriter-and-multi-instrumentalist-david-muse-dead-at-73/ | title=American Singer, Songwriter, and Multi-Instrumentalist David Muse Dead at 73 | date=August 8, 2022 }}</ref> Jim Waddell, who had first played with Firefall in 1993, returned to cover for Muse.

In July 2022 after Mark Andes retired from the road, current [[Babys]] singer/bassist John Bisaha joined the lineup.

In 2023 Firefall announced that their latest album, ''Friends & Family'', would feature classic songs from other 1970s bands, including the [[Doobie Brothers]], [[Heart (band)|Heart]], [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[Loggins and Messina]], [[the Band]], [[Marshall Tucker Band]] and more. It was released on September 22.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://firefallofficial.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126022630/http://www.firefallofficial.com/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 26, 2015|title=FIREFALL - Official Band Website|date=August 21, 2023|website=FIREFALL}}</ref>