Country music often gets a fair amount of bad press. Often this is deservedly so, the ‘bro country’ movement and its associated misogyny cannot be ignored, but like any genre of music there are good and bad performers and songwriters. It’s why last November Breaking More Waves named UK based duo The Shires as one of its Ones To Watch for 2015. The main reason was very simple – good songs, but also it seems that there is a bigger degree of acceptance of country music in the UK than ever before right now. Dolly Parton at Glastonbury seemed to push the boat along a bit and Taylor Swift’s current all-conquering-can-do-no-wrong stream of popularity (albeit partly because of her newer pop sound rather than her country roots) has generated even more interest. It seems the perfect time for new talent from the country scene to come forward and The Shires, with their addictive tunes, seem perfectly poised.
The band has recently released a new video for their song Friday Night, a rousing and infectious country pop ode to having a few drinks after the 9 to 5 drudgery of the week. Shot in LA it features actor Mark Boone Junior from Sons of Anarchy, as well as a group of US championship skateboarders. Uplifting and joyous sounding it will make you look forward to next weekend already.
The Shires are out on tour in the UK this Spring (dates on their website here) to promote their forthcoming debut album Brave, including a show in Breaking More Waves home city of Portsmouth as well as London's Union Chapel. If you’re going to the Portsmouth date, we’ll see you down the front for that one.
The Shires - Friday Night (Video)
1 comment:
So glad you are featuring The Shires :) such a fun band.
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