The Fire Tonight

1995 – In Columbia, SC Stephen Russ and Jamie Heiting, neighbors, form their band The Glow Bats. The Glow Bats would later become the Pet Fuzzies. They recorded one tape including such hits as “Living in a burned down house” and “Lasagna.” Meanwhile Collin lived in China writing music and not knowing the amazing turn his life would take.

2004 – Collin Derrick and Stephen Russ met in college at Anderson College in Anderson, SC, and began playing a little bit of music together. Eventually Derrick asked Russ to help him record a solo project, and the two performed their first show together on campus along with guitarist Josh Hardy. They would continue to play sporadically over the next few years.

2007 – The decision was made to write new material based around three of Collin’s latest songs – Black Confetti, Dragonflies, and Pay the Waitress. Derrick, Russ, and Hardy added teenage friend Nate Martin to the band on bass and the Collin Derrick Band was formed. The band performed a few tune up shows in its resident upstate South Carolina, debuting some of the new material.

July 18, 2007 – The band plays its first show on the road, and what the band considers to be its first show ever. It took at place at Tasty World in Athens, GA. There were approximately 13 people there and they were all in the other bands. However, the next night the band played its first show at New Brookland Tavern for a great crowd, and the band’s endearing relationship with Columbia was formed.

September 2007 – The band found that their music was actually appealing to people, and decided to step up it’s commitment level far beyond the planned “5 shows each year.” Sadly the band lost guitarist Josh Hardy in the process, but Hardy has remained a loyal friend to the band and designed the art for the debut album. With the slot opened, the band pursued lead guitarist Jamie Heiting to fill the vacant position. Russ and Heiting had remained friends after the difficult split of Pet Fuzzies in 1995, and when the position came open Russ was excited to reignite the partnership.

December 31^st, 2007 – The band put on a landmark performance at New Brookland Tavern’s “New Years Cover Show.” It was a real honor for such a new band, and the band made a gutsy move to choose Radiohead as the band it would cover. The show was a rousing success.

January 2008 – The band set out on its first true tour, which proved to be both a success and a complete roller coaster ride. The band performed one of it’s biggest shows ever in Anderson, SC, opened for alt rockers Egypt Central, and traversed 4 different states. Unfortunately, the band also suffered snow cancellations as well as the cancellation of the tour ending show with indie rockers Moses Mayfield because well, they broke up. Several future album songs were debuted on the tour, including Be Rejected and Don’t Look Back, and the tour shows were often laced with the Radiohead covers the band had performed on New Years.

This period did produce a significant development, as the band performed its first show under the new moniker – The Fire Tonight in Knoxville, TN. The band had been considering making the transition for months, but the weeks of the tour are what really formed them into a band, and not just guys playing one person’s music.

May 2008 – The band took the spring shows as an opportunity to finish writing the rest of their debut album, and with 10 songs worth of material the band entered the studio in the middle of the month. Despite the excitement of the new album and the band’s first studio recordings, it had a rocky beginning when bassist Nate Martin decided to leave the band. Jamie’s brother Justin became the touring bassist for the band, and no less than 3 people would contribute to produce the bass tracks on the album.

August 2008 – With the bulk of the album recording behind them the band took to the road for the first time since June. This period marks when the band truly felt it transitioned from a local act to a regional act. The band took on a very successful North Carolina tour that included great shows with amazing crowds, and a very large amount of equipment damage. The band finished out the month with performances at Headliners in Columbia and Greenville’s famous Handlebar.

November 21^st 2008 – The band releases its first album “No One Is Fine” at New Brookland Tavern in Columbia. With art produced by Josh Hardy, and a few songs dating back to the Collin Derrick Band days, the record bares the mark of all of the band’s history, and with the most recently written track No One Is Fine the band may have unveiled some of it’s future as well.