BY LESLEY HASTINGS

Since forming in 2013 and releasing their first album two years later, The Shires have been at the forefront of the rise in country music’s popularity here in the UK. 

With numerous achievements and accolades on both sides of the Atlantic it was fantastic to see them invited to open for Garth Brooks at BST Hyde Park last Saturday….despite a few technical issues, what a set they delivered too on the incredible Great Oak Stage. And a great chance for fans to hear new songs from their upcoming album “Bonfire” (out this Friday, 3rd July). 

I caught up with Ben Earle via zoom a couple of days afterwards, as always an interesting and engaging chat, which began by me asking if he’d come down to earth yet after Saturday’s experience….

“There’s been a bit of a debrief after those technical issues, but I was really proud of how we rode those out. That was testimony to how long we’ve done this for, the younger us might have been completely freaked out by that. I’m still blown away by just how big the whole thing was! The fact that 70,000 people had bought tickets, such incredible artists on the bill and to open up on the main stage and be part of that was incredible. To look out and see so many fans who have been there from day one for us, but also there were people who had never heard of us and our music, really amazing too! I’m glad it wasn’t as hot as it had been the previous few days! It’s amazing just how far country has come….” 

Something (as Ben mentioned on the stage) that they dreamed about in their song “Nashville Grey Skies”…a dream that’s come to fruition, county is cool even among the younger generation now. 

What does Ben put that down to? 

“I think Stella Lefty with Boston is a perfect example of the storytelling thing. Millennials in general but particularly Gen Z are emotionally aware, honest about their feelings, and I think that’s what country music is. It doesn’t shy away from being heartfelt and real. That’s what I’ve always loved about it. And it’s having a golden era, artists like Zach Bryan are appealing to so many people, he’s telling his story but people are finding their story in his. The world isn’t the easiest place. And country music is just easy to listen to as well”. 

Going back to the set on Saturday, was Ben surprised by the amount of people who had learned the line dance to their latest single “Watching You Watching Me”, it was quite a “thing” wasn’t it?

(Laughing) “It was so cool! I feel like line dancing is sort of where country music was in the UK 8-10 years ago and it’s having a real moment again now. Lots of young people getting into it, going line dancing instead of going to the pub now. And I feel some people are really protective of it ….like ‘we’ve been doing this for ages’!! ….

Anyway I said to our choreographer Mama Yeehaw  just before we went on stage ‘have you ever done anything like this before, as big as this?’ and she said ‘No one has done anything as big as this!’ But the fact that so many had learned it already was amazing…..and ‘Getaway Car’ it’s only the third time we’d played that live, and so many had learned that already, looking out it was just amazing, you can’t fake that reaction to a song. You can fake numbers on Spotify, but seeing people reacting to your song is the most amazing thing, that many people in Hyde Park was so beautiful”.

So on to the new album, their first in four years (with family understandably taking priority) …but the fact that demand for their acoustic tour meant it had to be extended dramatically and that the lead single “Getaway Car” hit the #1 spot on the country radio chart (a first for a UK act) proves how loyal their fanbase is….

“This album was hugely inspired by the love of our fans. When we started that acoustic tour there was no plan for an album, we wanted to just find our feet again, Crissie is a mum now, we just set out to play a few shows. But the amount of demand was incredible…..we played places I’d never even heard of like Dewsbury ….we have fans everywhere! We finished the tour in Exmouth, and I remember being on stage and looking out , thinking wow, this is amazing, we played 90 odd dates over 2 years. The album was in the flow at that point too. I woke up the next morning in a Premier Inn looking out at the sea and that’s when I got the call about BST. It was the perfect timing!! I was hungover but still feeling the glow after the run of shows. And the album was already mastered at that point…..it all just fell into place. It feels like we are starting again, but a lot of it started with that tour and the love of the fans being there for us” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfmdwc2pxtY

I commented how truly transatlantic the new album is…..firstly when it comes to the recording, most was done in Nashville but there’s a couple of tracks recorded in Ben’s home studio too….

“Yeah in my ‘shed’! A lot of it was done back and forth, sent to Lindsay (Rimes, producer/co writer) and vice versa. Crissie did most of her vocals here, one in a cupboard in Ilkley after a show (!!), one in her Mum’s house in her old bedroom which was cool ….it really was DIY! We had to slip it in when we could as we are busy…” 

And the transatlantic theme extends to the writing too….as well as collaborating with major Nashville names including Eric Paslay and Phil Barton I’d noticed UK’s Kaity Rae and Catherine McGrath among the credits. Do US and UK writers tend to approach things differently? 

“It’s interesting, in Nashville things always start with a lyric idea. Everyone has a title …and asks ‘what does that mean to you?’ They jump on the lyric pretty quickly. You can sit there for an hour and not write musically! Then with Kaity and Beth McCarthy, they are both great singers so singing inspires things a bit more….but mostly on this record what we didn’t do was go and ‘scatter write’ with loads of people like we’ve done before and hope we came up with good songs. I haven’t got a lot of time! I do all the cooking for my kids, I was in Nashville, we were touring…. I just wanted to write with people I knew I was to going to have fun with….”

And you’d already built a connection with …

“Exactly” 

So was it hard to narrow it down to twelve songs ? 

“We didn’t have loads and loads this time. It was actually hardest to pick the last couple of songs …. ‘House of Cards’ which is genuinely my favourite on the record, was the last we decided to put on and that came in two weeks before we mixed the album, so last minute! That was a song that’s been around a few years…..we don’t have many sad songs, it’s different for us, and for me it just had to be in the world so I thought let’s just do it!” 

I mentioned it was one of my favourites on the album too alongside a couple of Ben’s solo writes, “One For The Whiskey” (that evoked a big laugh from him, not sure why!) and the opening title track “Bonfire” with its summer Latino feel. 

“Aw thank you”!

Does Crissie have a favourite? 

“She loves singing ‘House of Cards’, it just flows so nicely, and ‘ Good Life’ ….that’s where she is pretty much in her life, she’s an amazing Mum, loves her home ….”

But she can’t be a home body much over the next few months as you are busy out on the road! Including headlining Friday night at The Long Road Festival, that’s pretty epic….

“Yes it is, and again that was very last minute. We got a call a couple of months ago, and it was funny I was looking at the calendar, thinking we have a few things but not loads, cos where the album fell there wasn’t a load of festivals coming up . And then we got that call….it’s one of my favourite festivals, if not the favourite, what Baylen’s done is he’s handpicked and curated the whole thing .He gets it. I messaged him to thank him and he said ‘ I just feel it’s time to have you back’ ….and that sort of sums up how I feel about everything. Out first album…country wasn’t all that big in the UK, I didn’t feel we had a massive presence…..but the world now we have a UK country chart, radio stations, C2C, Long Road…it feels like we are coming back with this album into a scene that’s very different. That’s very ready for it” 

And then there’s the headline tour in November. Are there any towns or venues they haven’t played before which they are particularly excited about? 

“Swansea! That’s a brand new arena I think, so that’s pretty cool. I don’t think we’ve played in Poole before….The Lighthouse…but I’m genuinely excited , beautiful venues that are just big enough like Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, amazing venues ….” 

So who’s in charge of new merch which I assume will be on the way too….

(Laughing) “Well that’s normally more Crissie’s thing! There’s tea towels….I’ve actually got one right here….(which he held up!) ….here’s the ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ one (it had the song’s lyrics on) ….they are very good tea towels as well ….” 

Ha that’s cute but far too nice to use as a tea towel! 

“I’m not quite sure what else we’ll have but it’s always nice to have a tour tee shirt….” 

Absolutely!! 

So, finally….apart from performing most of the new material at these shows is there a single from their back catalogue that always has to be on the setlist to avoid a riot?

“Obviously ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ ….which is one I actually didn’t have anything to do with writing-wise!! It’s funny how much that song has changed for me, now I have a daughter. It’s such a beautiful song, Crissie is singing it and I just look out at people and how much it obviously means to them. At almost every show there’s the daughter who’s lost their Dad, or just the Dad and daughter holding each other in that moment. I don’t think there’d be a riot if we didn’t play it but people may ask for refunds!! ” 

Well we wouldn’t want that either! 

Thanks for this chat, Ben, I hope to get to the show at the Palladium in London but meanwhile I hope the album gets all the success it deserves. And give my regards to Crissie. 

“Thank you Lesley, will do!” 

More artist information, plus presave/order ” Bonfire” here https://www.theshiresmusic.com/

And all tour dates can of course be found on the Country Lowdown gig guide.