An Interview with The Shires who come to Bristol 24 November
Posted on: 18 Aug 2016The amazing country sensation The Shires will be playing in Bristol this November at Colston Hall. The duo have had an amazing year and their first single from their new album ‘My Universe’, called ‘Beats To Your Rhythm’, is already smashing it across the board having dropped last week. I was lucky enough to be able to have a chat with Crissie, the female half that makes up the duo, about their upcoming gig in Bristol, their new album and their fans!
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** CHECK OUT NEW TRACK ‘BEATS TO YOUR RHYTHM’ HERE **
“So Crissie, it has been quite the whirlwind year for both you and Ben! Glastonbury, Graham Norton and the Brits were just a few highlights. Why do you think the UK is really taking to country music at the moment?”
“Yeah, it’s been an amazing year for both of us! I suppose one of the main reasons that our music has been so popular recently is that we have a different take on country music. We leave some of stereotypes of the country genre in Nashville and give our British perspective.
We use our own experiences through music with honest and relevant storytelling to create a different take on the country scene, a lot like great artists such as Adele or Ed Sheeran are doing through their music. This seems to resonate with a lot of younger people in the UK with 47% of 18-24 year olds now identify themselves as country music fans!”
“Your new album drops on 7th October and you also play Bristol’s Colston Hall on 24th November! How excited are you for the new album? And are you excited to be back in Bristol?”
"We are so excited for the second album to finally get released! It’s available to pre-order now with some treats included for the fans with that. It has been such a labour of love and the album is quite personal for both Ben and me.
With Ben just becoming a dad for the first time and myself using my own father as an influence on the album, some of the songs felt so emotional for both of us. We used so many different personal influences that it really something that we are both really proud of.
We can’t wait to get back to Bristol. We have played Thekla and we loved the atmosphere of the crowd. It was a really moving gig because a lot of fans were able to sing along to some of our songs and we honestly didn think they would know any of the words! It meant so much to us. Moving to a bigger stage at Colston Hall I can’t wait to hear the Bristol crowd sing along to some of our songs again!”
“You recently hosted a private party for some of your fans at One Embankment, London, and took pictures with lots of them! They clearly mean a lot to you. Is there anything fans can expect for the future?”
“Yeah our fans our amazing to us and it’s important for us to give back! Having lived and worked in Bristol I do hold a little soft spot for the amazing city. It’s amazing to see a lot of different generations listen to our music and enjoy it. It could be a family in a car with parents, grandparents and the kids all singing along, and for me this means so much as it was my gran who taught me all the old country songs.
We always want to give back to the fans in Bristol. I used to work in the Apple store at Cabot Circus so Bristol is close to my heart. Maybe we could even set up another photo booth like we have done before!”
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It was great to get chatting to Crissie! From this I can really tell that both her and Ben can’t wait to play again in Bristol! Make sure and check out the new album that has some amazing tracks fans of both country and pop will love!
Visit for more information on the band or to pre order the album visit - theshiresmusic.com. Alternatively visit the bands Facebook page where they announced the tour.
Article by:
Matt, originally from Belfast, has only lived in Bristol for a year now and is studying Media & Journalism at UWE. He wants to concentrate his writing and media skills in Bristol's culinary culture, delving into what fine feasts the city has to offer and where the best places to go for food really are. Along with an aspiration to interview some of the influential people shaping Bristol and some who are simply passing through, Matt really is trying to make Bristol his new home! For any other info check out his Facebook or Twitter.
