GrownFolksMusic.com: ERIC ROBERSON BRINGING MUSIC WITH "FIRE" LIVE TO CENTER STAGE ATLANTA
By Eric Roberson
Photo Credit: Hope West / Written By: Kimberly Kennedy Charles Grown Folks Music
Eric Roberson brought Fire… the music from the new EP that is… to Center Stage Theater in Atlanta on Saturday, November 4, 2017. The packed show celebrated the release of Fire the third EP in the ambitious trilogy of EPs Roberson released this year called Earth, Wind & Fire. It’s ambitious, because Roberson covers A LOT of ground on these EPs. From the gravity of the circle of life on “The Hospital Song” from Earth, to a man fearing he may have missed his chance to settle down with the woman of his dreams on “Claire” from Wind and the lost innocence and life of a 12-year-old boy on “Tamir” from the Fire— which he performed during the show.
Eric Roberson dispersed many of hits throughout the show including the three most requested songs by fans on social media for the Atlanta show–“Softest Lips”, “She” and “Pretty Girl”. There was also some comedic “cutting up” with a silly, impromptu song about beautiful women called “If God Made It Is It Wrong To Look”.
The show wasn’t completely lighthearted, however. Roberson did perform songs from the Fire EP, and as the title suggests, it might be the most fervent of the trilogy as Roberson deals with some hot-button topics. As mentioned earlier, he performed the somber “Tamir”. Before he did, he told the crowd that it was the most important song he’s ever written in his life. Roberson said, “We’re not supposed to get this type of news and just go with our daily lives.” Then, he dedicated the song to the Rice Family– the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014 after they responded to a call that a black male was pointing a gun. The gun turned out to be a toy. In the song Roberson says,
“When I was young I had a toy gun
Used to wave it at everyone
As a kid that’s what we did
We were just kids being kids
Wouldn’t let my boys have one now
Some cops won’t hesitate to gun a kid down.”