insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 07 - September 2015 | Page 25

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

Taking the world by storm…

The Shires

insideSUSSEX’s Sam Jones caught up with The Shires’ Ben Earle prior to their appearance at
Boomerang Festival in Hickstead this September.
Your journey as The Shires has been
nothing short of whirlwind so far, seeing
you go from a fledging band to headlining
a UK tour, though you both have years
under your belts individually as musicians.
What’s been the hardest adjustment
transitioning from solo artists to a
permanent duo?
Nothing's been that hard about it, actually. If
anything, it's been much easier, because you
get to share the load with each other. What's
great about Crissie and I is that we keep each
other grounded, because if something doesn't
go as well as you'd hoped, you just have a
bit of a laugh about it. We love singing with
each other – we've always loved singing with
someone else in harmony, and Crissie really
inspires me to be a better singer.
Did you find that you and Crissie had
creative chemistry straightaway?
Yes, we did. It's so strange, our story, because
we met on Facebook. I've never done online
dating, but I imagine it's a very similar process;
you never know if you're actually going to get
on. All the ingredients might be there, but you
still might not get on. But we did, the second
she came round. It was like finding a kindred
spirit – someone who loved country music in a
country where you thought you were the only
person who really liked it!
You recorded your album Brave in
Nashville, USA. Tell me about that
experience.
It was incredible. The first time we went, our

eyes were just popping out of our heads –
neither of us had been to America before,
so that was quite an experience in itself. The
second time when we made the album, that
was when we suddenly felt, ‘okay, this is really
special’, because all the songs that we'd been
playing by ourselves suddenly had session
musicians there, and they brought them to life
instantly. We felt so lucky to be able to do it.
Some bands say putting together a
certain album is a struggle, but others are
as smooth as silk. So how did you find
putting the whole album together?
Before meeting Crissie, it was all quite a strange
thing – it was hard, it was difficult, no-one
would listen to my songs, I didn't feel confident,
and I had this vision that making an album was
the hardest thing in the world. I had a twisted
view of the industry and the music itself.
When we signed our deal with Decca, we
told them we felt really strongly about making
this album in Nashville, and that was it – it
really was ridiculously simple. We had great
musicians, we had great producers, we poured
110% into it, and we recorded 15 songs in
three days. It was absolutely amazing.
It was only a few years ago when you were
trying so hard to get your songs out there
and heard. Can you give any local bands
looking to get gigs and airplay some tips
of encouragement or how to succeed in
the music industry?
It sounds really cliché, but just stick to what

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you believe in and what you know to be true.
I think it wasn't working for me for a long time
because I was trying to be like what was on the
radio, but when I discovered country, it was like
coming home as a songwriter. It was like, wow:
this is who I am and this is what I want to do.
What's been the most exciting moment of
your career with Crissie so far? Has there
been a highlight?
I think we can both agree that playing the Grand
Ole Opry in Nashville was amazing. It's like the
mother church, it's the place to play, everyone
who's anyone has played there. All these
famous legends like Johnny Cash and Dolly
Parton – so I definitely think that’s number one.
I've looked at your tour dates and you
are so busy; you seem to be somewhere
different every single day until October.
Have you got any plans after October and
for 2016? Anything big coming up?
Yes, we're not actually stopping. We're going
on tour with Little Big Town in Am