Premiere: Steamboat Revival’s ‘Fire on the Hill’ takes you into outer space

Steamboat Revival (L-R: Nate Wilkinson (Guitar), John Davenport (Bass), B.A. (Drums), Chris (Vocals), CJ (Bass), Brad Snyder (Keyboard). // Courtesy Steamboat Revival

The new band Steamboat Revival hasn’t even been together a year, but their sound is fully developed. Encompassing everything from classic Southern rock, to soul, to even a little prog—this group has a little something for everyone.

Bolstered by sax, keys, and frontman Christopher Burke’s big voice, it feels as though Steamboat Revival has been around for ages, rather than coming together at a jam session during the pandemic.

We’re excited to premiere the live video for their song, “Fire on the Hill,” which you can check out below, along with an interview with Burke, talking about how the band came together and what they have in store.

The Pitch: This song is called “Fire on the Hill,” but it goes into outer space. How’d this mini-epic come to be so big?

Christopher Burke: “Fire on the Hill” was written in Colorado in 2016. The song was actually about a fire that happened in Nederland, Colorado, while I was visiting an ex-lover of mine on the commune that she was living on.

It was a beautiful day and all of a sudden, black smoke was seen in the distance. Next thing you know, we’re all in a panic because, as you know, fires in the mountains spread so quickly.

The song needed to have an ethereal life or death essence to it. What’s beautiful in our band is that each player can tell the tale further within their own instruments. We can allow the song to breathe life within it because of the great musicianship we have in our band.

Why did you choose to do a live video for this song, and what led you to choose Studio48?

I prefer live recordings. This is what we sound like live—no BS or tricks coming from the studio. Some mixing and mastering and voilà, finished product. It’s one take. We did three recordings, and each one sounded different. We chose our last one.

The second to last take even got more psychedelic, but we’ll save it for later. I dislike when I see a band that I really love but when push comes to shove, they can’t pull it off in a show.

We go back into the studio to do actual tracking on this single on April 4, and we will have this at a radio length acceptable rate—under four minutes. When you do a live one first, I at least don’t feel like I’m cut-throating the song’s potential.

We chose Studio 48, because honestly, they have the best rates and bang for your buck, and Brennan and Ian Pittman are awesome. They’re brothers running a business. It’s great. we’re treated like family at their studio. Even Hank, their dog, is liking me now.

You’re a band that came together during the pandemic. Where did you all meet beforehand?

We started this band eight months ago at Westport Saloon during Coyote Bill’s Tuesday open jams. I had just moved back from California. I lost my job, girlfriend, and coffee shop in a span of two months due to the pandemic, and I said, “Fuck it. I’m going back into music.”

Nate Wilkinson and I were the first ones to really come together and put everything through the wringer. This band has been a huge shit show of ups and downs. We’ve gone through a lot of musicians, but we have a really great group now. I feel confident that this group will be doing huge things in the future.

Do you have plans to record anytime soon, or are you still working out the songs?

Yes, we are recording a bunch in April and should have an EP at the end of the month. I’m always working on songs. Nate and I arrange a new song every Monday and Tuesday. I write out the base and foundation and lyrics. He helps me out a lot within the bridge areas or other parts I’m stuck on, then transposes for the band.

You can find out more about Steamboat Revival on Facebook. Catch them live at the Phoenix Saturday, April 9.