Rockstars of the 1970s may have looked otherworldly. But, in reality, you’ve never sat at a bigger distance from a rock star than you are today. This is not your fault, don’t you worry! Don’t bother writing fan mail, and don’t waste time stalking their trailer after the show. It’s entirely the result of them wanting to cut connections with you. But there are still artists, like SP3, who treasure your involvement.
Modern pop-rock hits, for the most part, are delivered by the artists from a distance. The stages are bigger than in the heyday of rock music, the security personnel larger, and all the hubbub surrounding live music events has grown larger. But who does this actually help?
We should all be suspicious of nostalgia. We need, after all, modern sounds and solutions to fit modern problems. But we should also remember why the majority of us chose to develop a passion for modern musical performers in the first place. We didn’t want to create unapproachable heroes. We wanted to honour people just like us who’d worked on developing their amazing gifts.
With this in mind, SP3’s rootsy blues-rock of “Fire on the Hill” feels like music played directly to you by people who wouldn’t mind shaking your hand after the performance. This all doesn’t mean that the music is plain or unambitious. Quite the contrary.
As with nearly all of the greatest songs, “Fire on the Hill” concerns itself with the few things that matter – love, faith, life and death. But it’s an earthy delivery of these three lifelong students of the blues that helps to pass on the message. These are not people who’ve gathered for a quick buck or some likes on the social media pages. These are devotees of the art of playing soulful, blues-rock. Why do we still need this pop-rock thing? To build meaningful connections.
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