Blues rocker Steve Hill will be sharpening his musical chops during a show at the Dream Café.
The Montreal musician’s song selection is anything but static as he continually improves upon all of the tunes he’s ever written.
“The songs are much different now after playing them one or two hundred times,” he said. “They evolve, some of my songs are completely different now. That’s the great thing about it: a song is never over. You record it, and that’s like taking a Polaroid of that moment. But after that it can keep growing.”
During his cross-Canada tour, which is currently underway, he’s shaping his next batch of music before its ready to be stamped onto his next record.
“I’m playing these songs and I’m living them too,” he said. “And it’s great to be able to play the songs live before you record them, it’s much better this way. You really know what’s working and what’s not.”
Until four years ago, Hill spent years in a band playing guitar. He thought about recording a solo album and taking it on tour simply as a side project, but it had a lasting effect.
“When I started doing this one-man band thing, I was basically just playing guitar, singing and foot-stompin,” he said. “I never thought that I’d become a one-man band.”
Hill’s second solo album won him a Juno and four Maple Blues Awards.
In preparing his third album, Hill said there’s been steady progression throughout his recordings.
While he focuses most of his musical energy around the blues, he’s able to finds creative ways of injecting elements of country and rock ’n’ roll.
“To me, country is the white man’s blues, and country and blues had a baby together and now they played rock ’n’ roll. That’s how you have all types of rock ’n’ roll.”
In sourcing out inspiration for new music, he said his best ideas come about spontaneously.
“It’s like you have an antenna and you pick up the songs,” he said. “You’re not even sure what it talks about to begin with, and then you finish writing the song and find a meaning to it. The best songs are the ones that seems like you didn’t even write them, you just play them and they come out, and then you really have to record it quick.”
He said his love for the blues is likely a cause of his natural inclination towards the guitar.
“The first time I heard Muddy Waters and BB King, that really did something for me.”
Hill plays the Dream Café on Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $26 and can be ordered by calling 250-490-9012.