Fort Worth sextet
the Theater Fire is an eclectic ensemble with roots in folk, country, and blues combined with an instrumentation that includes not only guitars, bass, and drums, but also mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and pedal steel guitar, as well as xylophone and trumpet. Baritone Don Feagin and tenor Curtis Heath alternate as lead singer, and, though the songs are credited to the group as a whole, there also seems to be a distinction between the songs of the two, with Feagin's more abstract and ambivalent, while Heath's are more personal and romantic. This comes across right from the start on "Kicking Up the Darkness," which is about a stranger who has come to town and the narrator's conflicted reaction. "Should I lock the gates or line the street?/Should we crush his head or kiss his feet?," sings Feagin. The questions are never resolved; like many of the other songs, "Kicking Up the Darkness" is a miniature portrait of a scene or character that doesn't draw a conclusion. Heath, on the other hand, in such songs as "These Tears Could Rust a Train" and "Valentwine," is more content to sing of love. But no matter what the subject matter, the melodic tunes are given interesting musical arrangements, from the mariachi horns that lead the Tex-Mex-styled "Fiddleback Weaver" to the folk-blues sound of "Cheater Liar." The Theater Fire often plays in a shambling, seemingly under-rehearsed (or perhaps just lo-fi) manner, as if the shifting from one surprising instrument to another throws the timing off a bit, and as if all those instruments are still being mastered. But they create unusual music that doesn't sound like anything else, even as it draws upon many identifiable sources. ~ William Ruhlmann