Birmingham, AL · southern rock · punk rock

Lee Bains

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Birmingham's Lee Bains and the Glory Fires — sweat-soaked Southern rock with punk lungs and pointed politics. A cathartic, gospel-loud set.

Lee Bains III leads the Glory Fires, the band he formed in Birmingham, Alabama after a stint playing guitar with the Dexateens. Since 2012 he has released four studio albums built on Southern rock and soul guitar traditions played at punk volume, with Bains singing in his hoarse, declamatory style.

His lyrics stay specific rather than sentimental, dealing with class, race, religion and civic life in the American South, often set around Birmingham. Records including There Is a Bomb in Gilead and Dereconstructed established that approach, and his most recent album, Old-Time Folks, released on Don Giovanni Records in 2022, traces stories of people's movements across the Deep South.

The band's live reputation rests on long, loud, physically demanding shows, and Bains tours regularly across the United States and Europe. He has lent his music to benefit efforts for striking coal miners, immigrants' rights groups, abortion funds and anti-racism organizations.

Bains also writes poetry, first published by The New Yorker in 2021, with a debut collection, WORK LUNCH, due from Hub City Press. He has collaborated in performance and on record with artists including Lonnie Holley, Moor Mother, Pussy Riot and Algiers, and a live solo album is planned for release on Don Giovanni.

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southern rockpunk rock