"Ne reprenez, dame, si j'ai aime,
Si j'ai senti mille torches ardentes,
Mille travaux, mille douleurs mordantes,
Si, en pleurant, j'ai mon temps consume."
- Louise Labe
"In the night I accept the authority of the torches, although I know there is a sun." — Victor Hugo
The Torches were cobbled together by Stephen Guidry in the late winter of 2009 as his other band, The Cassettes retreated into hibernation. Hoping to find a repository and hopefully fertile crescent for the music that had been shaking around behind his eyes for sometime, the net was cast wide and drew in both old friends and new to create a ramshackle group, including banjo, oboe, harmonica, several-part vocal harmonies and cacophony, as well as some hollaring and stomping. If you insist, they have been described as a combination of "Tom Waits, The Make-Up, the Sex Pistols and Temple of the Dog." The Torches played their first show without ever having all been in the same room at once.
I like your sound, thanks for dropping in and making friends. Hope I make it to Virginia one day. By the by, if you'd like me to keep you abreast of random things that occur to me, please go ahead and join the mailing list on my page.
