Lee Bains + The Glory Fires

Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires emerged from Alabama as a rock band whose sound fuses the swagger of classic Southern rock, the raw energy and attitude of punk, the literate and personal stance of indie rock, and the deep grooves of R&B. Their muscular, hard-hitting debut, 2012’s There Is a Bomb in Gilead, projected a beefed-up take on roots rock, yet the follow-up Dereconstructed in 2014 delivered a rougher, more abrasive guitar attack. Socio-political themes and more experimental structures surfaced prominently on 2017’s Youth Detention while retaining full rock & roll force, and the group deliberately refined its studio approach on 2022’s Old-Time Folks, their most polished and stylistically ambitious release to date.

Guitarist, lead vocalist, and main songwriter Lee Bains III founded the band in 2010. An Alabama native, he grew up singing in church after attending a Christian school and later developed a passion for writing, studying literature at a New York college before returning home to concentrate on music. A devoted admirer of Tuscaloosa Southern rock revivalists the Dexateens, Bains joined them on guitar in 2008. After two years the group went on hiatus, prompting him to start a new project in 2010.

During his Dexateens tenure, Bains and Birmingham’s Glen Iris neighbors formed the acoustic Glen Iris Glorifiers to perform vintage gospel at a local homeless shelter. The name shifted to the Glory Fires, which Bains adopted for his post-Dexateens outfit. He recruited guitarist Matt Wurtele, bassist Justin Colburn (ex-Arkadelphia and Model Citizen), and drummer Blake Williamson (previously with Taylor Hollingsworth, Dan Sartain, and Black Willis); the quartet soon began working the Alabama club circuit. Offered a solo songwriting deal, Bains chose to remain with the band, which quickly built a strong regional following. After recording an album-length demo with producer Tim Kerr, the group signed with Alive Naturalsound Records and tracked its first LP with producer and engineer Lynn Bridges. Cut in Water Valley, Mississippi and mixed by Jim Diamond in Detroit, the debut There Is a Bomb in Gilead—its title drawn from Bains’ childhood mishearing of a gospel lyric—appeared in spring 2012.

Extensive national touring supported the album, and in 2013 Bains and the Glory Fires moved to Sub Pop. Soon afterward Wurtele and Colburn departed; Bains and Williamson regrouped with guitarist Eric Wallace and bassist Adam Williamson (Blake’s brother) and played their first European shows. Later that year the band relocated to Nashville to record its second album with Tim Kerr producing; Dereconstructed arrived in May 2014.

Bains’ association with Sub Pop ended quickly, so the third album appeared on New York punk label Don Giovanni. Youth Detention (2017) addressed race, class, and justice more directly than prior work and included a recommended-reading list. Relentless touring included a hometown performance at Birmingham’s The Nick that was captured for the June 2019 release Live at the Nick.

While supporting Youth Detention, now a trio after Eric Wallace’s exit, Bains and his bandmates envisioned a record that would exploit studio possibilities and expand instrumental textures beyond the raw approach of earlier efforts. In December 2019 they began tracking their fourth LP at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, Georgia with producer David Barbe, whose credits include the Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt, and Sugar. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted sessions after basic tracks were laid, giving the group time to refine arrangements. Guest contributions came from Drive-By Truckers keyboardist Jay Gonzalez, Loamlands vocalist Kym Register, and Mourning [A] BLKstar’s William Washington and Theresa May on horns; Old-Time Folks was issued in August 2022 on Don Giovanni.