"Shanty Boys of Pine County" by Bucket Brigade at Art House North

A year and a half ago, Bucket Brigade brought us an original docu-musical about the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894, entitled Survivors of the Fire. It was a thoroughly gripping tale that shared the real stories and words of survivors, from books, journals, or articles of the time, combined with music of the period. I loved it so much I traveled to the Hinckley Fire Museum last Memorial Day with some of my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers to watch a shorter version of piece, tour the museum, and visit the burial site and memorial. During his research for Survivors, Bucket Brigade Co-Founder and playwright Jermiah Gamble, who lived in Hinckley as a child, ran across the story of one fire survivor who later published a collection of traditional songs of the North Woods, and was inspired to write another original musical filled with these songs. Shanty Boys of Pine County is a sort of companion piece to Survivors of the Fire, but without the death and trauma. Instead, it shares the music…