Hellhound Harmonies

After cutting their teeth on the folk-and-country-blues-tinged acoustic sound that filled their two self-produced EPs, The Ballroom Thieves—lead singer and guitarist Martin Earley, percussionist Devin Mauch and cellist Calin Peters—officially introduced themselves to the music world in April with their debut full-length, A Wolf in the Doorway. Earley and Mauch started jamming together with just a guitar and djembe in college, and the band came into its current incarnation when Peters joined in late 2013, after the second EP. “Everything fit into place, so it kind of helped define our sound a little bit more,” Earley says of the addition. Since then, the Thieves have honed their live chops and developed their cohesion as a band, culminating with their new record, which opts for a more expansive sound—one grounded in airtight, crisp harmonies that outline Earley’s defiant lyrics. “We were trying to add some depth to the record without taking away from the live sound,” Earley reflects. However, he notes that fans shouldn’t worry about the Thieves’ ability to back up the ambitious album onstage, and assures that they will “still make a lot of noise during live shows.”