Tonight

We say

There seems to be fresh interest in New Country at the moment, following the success of More 4's US import Nashville and huge support for the genre at Radio 2 from the likes of Sir Terry Wogan and Bob Harris. The twist is that The Shires come from here in the UK and are successfully creating a buzz across the pond in the home of country (along with other British acts we've featured recently, notably Ward Thomas). Hailing from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes met via Facebook when he was almost skint and looking for a singer to front his songs. They met up properly a day later, rapidly signed to Decca after the label heard a handful of tracks around Christmas and were quickly dispatched Stateside to record their debut album. Working with hit Nashville songwriter Steve McEwan (noted for his success with Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood) and Play Productions (famed for work with Rascal Flatts and Celine Dion), Radio 2 A-listed their previous single Nashville Grey Skies and the station has added them to their prestigious Proms In The Park event on September 13. Before that, there's a small UK tour starting this weekend in York and landing at London's Water Rats venue on July 28. We've said it before but we truly believe that some of the best-crafted songs you'll hear this year are being created within this genre of music. This superb track proves that point.


Contact

Label: Chris Kershaw, Decca Records, +44 (0)20 7149 1034
Radio: Steve Stone, Decca Records, +44 (0)20 7149 1065
Online: Dan Cadwallader, Decca Records, +44 (0)20 7149 1039
Press: Caroline Crick, Decca Records, +44 (0)20 7149 1049
TV: Nirvana Chelvachandran, Decca Records, +44 (0)20 7149 1238
Live: Nigel Hassler, Creative Artists Agency UK, +44 (0)20 8846 3000
Management: Steve Morton, Union, +44 (0)7736 88887