See also: Quickly Rising Colorado Band You, Me & Apollo Is Breaking Up
The band formed in 2009 and started playing to empty rooms at Toad's Tavern. By last year, however, they were playing to a sold-out Red Rocks. In between they released two albums, toured the US, competed in international songwriting competitions and continued to be a staple in the Denver music scene.
"We did some pretty amazing things," says band member Michael James. "I'm just really grateful for the time for the time we did spend together."
However, that time has come to an end. Like most endings, this one is a little messy and hardly straightforward, but it wasn't a tragic one, either.
"We were sort of at a crossroads," James says. "There were some competing visions to where we wanted to go with things. I think we just felt like it had run its course a little bit."
James says the band was about to go into the studio to record what would have been their third album, but discussion of what would come next didn't go well and the band mates decided to pursue other projects. Patrick McGuire, who was the lead singer, is currently working on releasing an acoustic project. James says he's unsure what's next for him, but knows he'll "definitely stay here" in Denver.
"We all love making music and I think we will all continue to make music," he says of the future. "It's a little fresh to know what is quite next."
Below is the full note the band posted on their website.
Today is the end of an era for us. It is with great disappointment and sadness that we have decided to end Flashbulb Fires. We started making music together over eight years ago and it has been nothing short of an amazing and crazy ride in the years since. While we make this announcement with heavy hearts, we are hopeful for what the future holds and we want to celebrate and honor the music that we made as Flashbulb Fires. We wrote the most heartfelt songs we could and we will always be grateful for the music we created together. Most of all, we have the deepest appreciation for all of our fans and every single person who ever supported us in any capacity. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of this journey. It truly meant the world to us.
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