THE SHIRES: TOE TAPPING, COUNTRY ROCK
Facebook is a lot more than stalking your old school mates, playing silly games or liking pointless photos. Two and a half years ago, Ben Earle, frustrated song writer and talented musician was hovering over that enter button, unsure whether or not to take the leap into the digital beyond.
The message was certainly not the usual. The end result, a top ten album and a Decca Nashville contract. Not bad for a few key taps and a fearful press of send. ‘That was that. Ben sent me a demo and I was round jamming with him the next day. I was shocked that anyone else liked Country. I thought I was the only one.’
This comes from demure blonde and The Shires vocalist, Crissie Rhodes. ‘When we decided we wanted to do Country, even our parents asked if we were 100% sure! People were ironically saying that we should get real jobs!’
But The Shires, a name derived from the middle-class phrase for Ben and Crissie’s home counties, forged away at what they knew and both loved. ‘We thought it would be impossible to bring Country to the U.K. I’m just surprised how quickly it’s taken off. 18 months ago, we were playing the top room to about 50 people and now we’re playing here to a nearly sold-out show.’
Ben nods. The dynamic between the two is clear; the duo bounce each other in the dressing room almost as much as they do on stage. Their toe tapping, Country rock has really taken the UK by storm. ‘We’ve bought a lot of Country fans out of the closet. It’s no longer cowboy boots, Stetsons and check shirts. In Nashville, the stereotypes are kind of true. But over here; it’s just turn up and have fun. That’s all we want to do.’
Nashville may be full of Dolly Parton’s and Glenn Campbell’s singing about pick-up trucks and America but Nashville has given the band so much. ‘We played the Opry last year. It was unreal but it’s so relaxed and everyone is so lovely! We weren’t even called on stage!’
‘That’s a huge gig for anyone in this genre, a life-long Country shrine. But we played a tiny, tiny bar called Puckett’s and they do this song writing jam. These huge Country gods play all their hits or hits they’ve written hours before; it’s unreal and awe inspiring.
‘You kind of get up there and show your songs, those babies you’ve slaved over in a really intimate setting. In Nashville. It’s like playing to judges and there’s 2000 of them in Nashville.’
Although they successfully came to the Mecca of Country, The Shires stories lie firmly in the United Kingdom. ‘It’s all about writing about what you know, what you feel and what you love. We were shocked at how much people in Tennessee love their Country and we were confused why people don’t love our Country as much in Birmingham, Manchester or London. That real undying love’
Ben, who toured with Scottish songstress KT Tunstall in 2004, agrees ‘We just needed to add a dash of British to a drop of Nashville.’ With that recipe, writing Country became easy and what The Shires liked, became what the fans sung about. Lyrically, songs such as tenth track ‘Made In England’, are deeply ingrained in the British culture.
‘Why couldn’t we write about fish and chips and rain? That’s Britain to us, our heritage and our fun little quirks. If we love them, surely other people do to? However, we had to say England. Britain is just so bloody awkward to fit into a melody!’
The rest of the music just falls beautifully around those lyrics. The Shires mixture of catchy melody, powerful slide guitar and driving drum beats contrast with Crissie’s look. However, she may be small but this bombshell is full of sassy stage presence and an unbelievable vocal range. That was until her recent appearance on Graham Norton kind of shattered that illusion.
‘I don’t know why Ben did that to me! Ask him!’
Ben just laughs and Crissie continues.
‘I’ve had so many questions from so many people about that. I felt like such an idiot. You’ve got Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hiddlestone and Sir Kenneth Brannagh sitting on the sofa and probably TV’s biggest interviewer. Then your band mate, your musical partner suggests you impersonate a kettle. Unbelievable!’
This journey for Hampshire born Earle and Befordshire born Rhodes has been unbelievable. And they, in part, owe it to their counterparts. ‘Taylor Swift did so much for Country music in Europe. ‘Love Story’ opened up the whole journey for me; I didn’t even realise it was Country music! It was just a great song with slide guitars that were just slide guitars.’
But Ben’s epiphany came when listening to a band grown in Country’s fertile Nashville home and an Irish man.
‘Lady Antebellum opened the whole genre up for me. They’re quite vanilla and middle-of-the-road. But if you listen closely, Louis Walsh was bringing southern U.S. sounds to Radio 1 ten years ago. If you listen to stuff like Ronan Keating’s ‘When you say nothing at all’ you can see it. Walsh was grabbing country styles and sounds, then turning them into smash hits!’
But Country is no longer a cheesy limitation on creativity ‘It’s just so wide. For me, Country is the headline, then there’s an array of sub-headlines. Like Bro-Country. It’s like rap and Country thrown together.’
This fusion represents a real change in the whole genre. But The Shires still have time for their icons.
‘From one blonde to the blonde goddess, there’s always room for a bit of Dolly! Her early work could be interpreted as cheesy but even she’s had to adapt. ‘Home’ on her last record is so unrecognisable. British Country is almost unrecognisable, but it’s our unique selling point. Maybe that’s why we’ve taken off like a rocket!’
That rocket has earned The Shires nearly 300,000 sales, which will see the group get a gold disc. Ben and Crissie aren’t resting on their laurels though and take words of advice from Jason Bourne himself.
‘I think Matt Damon summed it up nicely when he accept his Oscar. Once you get that top ten, that big moment you expect everything to change and it doesn’t. It just drives us on to aim higher, for that top 5, number one, platinum disc.’
If that’s where the band are planning to head, how are they going to do it? Their stage show suggests a family process, part of Nashville heritage. The band grace chairs and sit in a songwriter’s round, bouncing ideas off each other. For this section of the show, they invite every pair of eyes onto their internal process, their personalities.
‘I love that bit of the show and it was my idea,’ Crissie proudly proclaims. ‘We felt like we should invite our audience into our world a little bit, see what ideas we’re having where we’re going next. We wrote some tunes with Jeff Curran and Phil Barton. It was just time to showcase them on tour!’
After this tour, they have no plans on stopping. Looming appearances on Irish TV, a once-in-a-lifetime tour with The Corrs and the band’s first American arena tour with Little Big Town. But after this non-stop lifestyle the band are happy just to do the basics.
‘We just had a day yesterday of washing our clothes! I was genuinely thrilled to just have a clean shirt because I sweat so much on stage.’ After the final song of the night, a singalong ballad of ‘Islands in the Stream,’ Ben often is caked in sweat his shirt’s clinging to him and Crissie is less than impressed by this style choice.
‘It looks like he’s wearing PVC, he’s that soaked. That really would change our sound!’
Away from sound altering latex, The Shires are incredibly humble despite their huge success and it hasn’t got to the band,
‘At the end of the day, I’m just a fan. I was still fangirling when we performed with Carrie Underwood. I figured it’d be uncool to ask for singing tips. Ben was drunk when we played that gig, so he won’t remember.’
Ben laughs in a way that says ‘I remember nothing.’ He may not remember that night but he certainly remembers the Radio 2 in Concert night at Hyde Park. ‘When you’ve come from having ten years of no breaks to having 50,000 people singing a song you wrote in your bedroom is just uplifting.’
And this uplifting rise has been meteoric. Country was a genre for outsiders who loved 50’s muscle cars, pick-ups and rhinestones. Now, The Shires can compete with all pop heavyweights. ‘We really wanted to what Mumford and Sons did for folk. They really bought an oft-maligned genre back from the brink.’
You really can’t argue with the sales figures, the backing of a historic label and the joyous swarms of fans queueing at the Institute door from 2pm. Their story really is summed up in first single from Brave, ‘Nashville Grey Skies.’ This Bob Harris approved Country and Western toe tapper really set the blueprint for their big plan of building a Country-Music-Empire right here in the UK.
The Shires have been their own architects and have certainly set those builders to work but why has there been this sudden change in fortunes for Country?
‘I think people are just ready for story telling again. Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and James Bay have helped us, even if accidentally. People just want songs, something they can sing along to, connect with the story. There’s a place for EDM but the whole situation is reverting’
Crissie interjects. ‘I don’t think our fans were listening to EDM to be fair Ben.’
It seems unlikely!
Almost as unlikely as Ben getting a response on his late-night status that pined for a musical mate. But a like and a comment later, plus tonnes of good-old graft have seen The Shires become a much sought after act worldwide.
They’ve injected lightning into a dying genre and dragged it to every hoedown until it became popular. British Country and Western is taking off at last and it’s all thanks to Ben and Crissie. Their flawless harmonies, their catchy song writing and their relatable lyrics. Bring your rustling gear and your ten gallon hat because The Shires have won the shootout!
The shires debut album ‘Brave’ is out now
Dan Shorthouse
