Soirée: The Shires

Soirée: The Shires

The groundswell of interest in country music in the UK is now officially unstoppable. But one of the acts helping to make country cooler than ever on this side of the Atlantic aren’t from Tennessee or Texas, they’re from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. They look and sound great, and they’re all set to take their country-influenced music to the world. Step forward, The Shires.

The duo of Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes have swiftly become one of the real buzz bands of 2014. Decca won the hot contest for their signatures just before they made their official live London debut at the event that confirmed the wave of interest in the country genre, the second annual Country 2 Country Festival at London’s 02 Arena. They also appeared on the BBC Radio 2 documentary Nashville UK, celebrating the rise and rise of country on these shores.

“We don’t want to be known as just springing out of nowhere, because behind the scenes, we’ve worked really hard,” says Crissie. “We’ve done our legwork, and the two of us finding each other has just worked.” Adds Ben: “I hate this word, but it was just serendipity.”

‘This is awesome, this is The Shires they sound fantastic, the new song is called Nashville Grey Skies, love it’ – BBC Radio 2