Catch Rick Springfield perform at the Hard Rock on Sunday

In "Magnificent Vibration," his debut novel, Rick Springfield writes about a guy named Bobby Cotton who stumbles upon, on the inside of a self-help book, a phone number that rings directly to God — an intriguing prospect.

Presented with such a fortuitous opportunity himself, Springfield says, he'd have plenty of questions for the almighty, ponderous perplexities like, "Why is the avocado seed so big?" or "Why can't I fly, because it seems so easy in my dreams? Is Hawaiian sand really made up of Parrotfish poop? Stuff like that," Springfield says via email. You know, "important questions."

Really, Rick? That's what you'd want to know? As far as queries go, existential conundrums aside, I think we can all probably agree that there are far more pressing quandaries to grapple with. We can think of a couple. Hmm … how about with the steady stream of biopics pouring out of Hollywood over the years, why on earth hasn't anyone yet thought to make a flick about Springfield's life? His memoir's a real page-turner, apparently, prime fodder, you'd think.

"I haven't thought about that," says Springfield, before allowing, "I think 'Late, Late at Night' would make a great project, because there's so much in it, and I have done a lot of stuff, but it would probably be a nine-hour movie. Much too long."

Well, and you can bet that the narrative would probably focus heavily on the front end of the 66-year-old songwriter's life. After he enjoyed so much success early on with smash singles such as "Jessie's Girl" and "Don't Talk to Strangers" — tunes that are now, of course, instantly identifiable, iconic staples from the Reagan era — Springfield's subsequent output has been subjected to an inequitable symmetry of sorts: Despite the fact that he's penned plenty of memorable material since, none of the songs have gained the notice his earlier work attracted.

Countless other acts have obviously faced a similar scenario, and while it has to be discouraging at times for a songwriter such as Springfield, he hasn't allowed it to constrict his creativity. "Yes, of course it gets frustrating when a good record is overlooked," he admits. "But all I can do is keep writing the best songs I know how and throw the suckers out there.

"It's up to the gods and brave programmers. Honestly, 'Jessie's Girl' was picked by DJs. It wasn't a single, and programmers started playing it because they liked it, and it got phones. Radio doesn't work like that anymore, but you can't really bitch about it, because it is what it is; and if you want to stay in the game, you have to be willing to work with what is there.

"I actually feel very lucky that fans are still interested in what I'm doing. I work in other areas, acting and writing, as well as concerts, so it brings in new fans doing that, but overall, I consider myself lucky to be doing what I am doing."

As fortunate as he feels to have such a strong and devoted core fan base, Springfield, you can argue, has made much of his own luck. After all, there's a reason that folks are still engaged after all these years, and it has everything to do with the fact that Springfield keeps rewarding the faithful with new music rather than resting on his past renown — and he's certainly not resting.

Springfield has finished work on a new album, which is due out early next year. Although it sounds like "Rocket Science" explores similar themes from his last album, 2012's "Songs for the End of the World," this one's different in that, "it's a very positive collection of songs," Springfield says, "and there is more going on in my head these days besides being depressed or getting laid."

It will be interesting to see where Springfield goes from here. Contrary to his quip, there wasn't anything dour or particularly lustful on "Songs for the End of the World," which contained a telling track called "Love Screws Me Up." In fact, that cut and others such as "Our Ship Is Sinking," "I Hate Myself" and "I Found You," find Springfield at his most evocative, effectively capturing the mercurial nature of love.

"I can love a person one day and then be totally pissed off at them the next and then back in love by Thursday," he explains. "So songs with different emotions can be about the same relationship. In fact, a lot of the time they are."

Kind of sounds like it has all the makings of a great country song, which actually worked out rather well for this new album, from the sound of it.

"It's kind of country-influenced, because I've been listening to a lot of country, and it's actually where rock 'n' roll seems to have landed — in Nashville," says Springfield, before clarifying, "It's not a country record, but there is instrumentation and a sensibility that is definitely country influenced. I wrote some of the songs with a couple of country writers because that's where all the really good pop hooks are coming from these days, and I'm still a believer in a great hook.

"There are a couple of songs we're doing live from the album that we are having a blast playing. I wrote one called 'Down,' with Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts, and another one called 'Light This Party Up,' that I wrote for 'Ricki and the Flash,' but it wasn't right for the movie, so we cut it for this record."

Write a song you love, record it: In that regard at least, not much has changed from the radio days, back when everything was captured on 2-inch tape at Sound City. "It really hasn't, other than sequencers and computers allow me to have drums, bass, keys and everything playing as I'm writing," Springfield says. "It helps to keep me interested during the writing process, but it's still coming up with an idea and sitting down with a guitar to get the song into shape."

Well, and you also want to make sure that you have someone like Matt Bissonette — a seasoned sideman who's played with an array of artists such as Steve Vai, Brian Wilson and Don Henley, in addition to collaborating with Springfield on his past three albums — sitting across from you and helping you bring your songs into focus. "He is an astonishing musician," Springfield says, "and a pal and makes the process go faster and better.

"Writing with someone does speed the process up a bit as I tend to drag my feet when I'm writing by myself. Plus, it makes it more exciting to bounce ideas off someone else and the competition is great, too."

Stop by the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Sunday to hear how it all worked out. You can expect Springfield to be right at home on stage in Vegas, where he spent a couple of years in the early part of the past decade as part of "EFX" at the MGM Grand and got a feel for the "rhythm of the city," as he puts it.

"It's like no other place in the world," Springfield says, "and for that reason alone, it's a blast to go there. I wrote the whole "Shock Denial Anger Acceptance" album there, and it's a very angry record, so obviously I have a lot of stories and memories from Las Vegas. Many of them unprintable, sorry."

Read more from Dave Herrera at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at dherrera@reviewjournal.com.