FIRE FOR THE PEOPLE
Fire for the People is an instrumental band based in Santa Fe, NM. With backgrounds in jazz, folk, and rock, guitarists Evan Kottle and Tony Burling use a unique sense of songwriting that includes interwoven guitar melodies and heavy rock anthems. It’s all grounded by Sam Jones on bass and Dave Wayne on drums.
Our Story
It started back in 2018 when Evan Kottle and Tony Burling met at a party through a mutual friend. They both expressed a deep love of music and agreed something should be done about it. They began rehearsing jazz standards and played a few gigs as a guitar duet around town.
After they expressed a deeper interest in songwriting, the two began writing their first album, the majority of which was written during the 2020 pandemic. After a few years of writing and trying to assemble the band, Fire for the People found their sound and recorded their first, self-titled album which was released in August of 2023.
Kottle's interest in guitar was sparked by discovering Jimi Hendrix at the end of high school. In college, he began obsessively taking music classes, and eventually pursued a degree in jazz guitar from Sonoma State University. His influences include Jazz fusion, Latin, West African, Rock and anything with a synthesizer.
Burling started playing piano from a young age but picked up guitar after hearing the likes of Jimmy Page and David Gilmore. He joined his high school jazz band yet always felt there were more styles to explore. Burling attended Berklee College of Music to pursue a major in film score. Still looking to expand his musical compass, Burling moved back to Santa Fe, working as a music teacher until he met Kottle. Burling’s influences stem from his father’s love of classic rock from the 60’s and 70’s as well as an affinity for traditional Irish music and percussive finger-style guitar.
Kottle and Burling continue to concoct new songs in the writing lab as well as working on producing their latest album, Between the Sun and Moon.