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Ballroom Thieves Set To Shine At Fairfield Theatre Company

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Going on the road is easily glamorized by outsiders looking into the lives of members of a traveling band.

The Ballroom Thieves will play Stage One at Fairfield Theatre Company on Jan. 20.

The Ballroom Thieves will play Stage One at Fairfield Theatre Company on Jan. 20.

Photo Credit: Facebook

The joys and pitfalls of the lifestyle are the stories in tracks on "Deadeye," the latest album of The Ballroom Thieves performing Friday, Jan. 20 at Stage One, Fairfield Theatre Company.

The trio of musicians new album pays tribute to the paradoxical pairing of joy and heartache that comes with living life inside a small van and onstage.

There's the "joy of playing a show, the wonder of encountering new places and people, and the stories that amass," while the flip side is the "suffocating isolation of a van, the misery of being separated from home and loved ones, and the unspoken grievances that stack tensions high," a release explains.

The harmony-rich folk music on the Thieves' debut, "A Wolf in the Doorway," led to guitarist Martin Earley, cellist Calin Peters, and drummer Devin Mauch spending the last two years in a sustained state of touring, taking stages across the country, including venerable ones like at the Newport Folk Festival. 

Though they were prepared for the sudden lack of a sedentary existence -- even packing their apartments into storage units -- it wasn't long before nearly nonstop touring began to take its toll.

As the stability of home faded along the relentless road, fresh anxieties came into focus: depression, financial burdens, illness, crumbling relationships. 

Instead of addressing these troubles, the Thieves doubled down on the band, and the edges began to fray.

 "I think if you give everything to something for long enough, you have nothing left for you," Peters says, "and then you break down." 

Resentment and stress built up; the only thing that would provide temporary reprieve was taking the stage to perform the music they so dearly love.

That need to play through the pain led to the band crafting new songs, ones written in the midst of all their bitter feelings. 

What couldn't be spoken between the bandmates was put down into fresh material that transmuted the drama of the past few months into a weightier, expanded sound. 

Deadeye captures the band at a time when they were at their absolute lowest, but it may also prove to be the album that saves The Ballroom Thieves, said a release.

Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show starting at 7:45 p.m. at the theatre, 70 Sanford St., Fairfield.

For tickets ($28) and information, click here or call 203- 319-1404.

Click here for more information about Ballroom of Thieves and to hear tracks from the new album.

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