UK new 'country' duo The Shires have been presented with an
unprecedented opportunity to make a well backed record that could take this
modern genre of music in this country into unchartered territory. Formed a
little over a year ago and now under the wing of Decca Records, the duo of
Chrissie Rhodes and Ben Earle are being targeted at taking on the country pop
wing of Nashville’s mainstream elite at their own game. In preparation for
their upcoming debut album release, The Shires have undertaken a few UK dates
to add some experience to the media adulation being bestowed upon them. As a consequence,
the upstairs room at Birmingham’s established Institute venue was well attended
with an audience intrigued to find out more about the band.
Opening up for The Shires on this short tour was young
singer songwriter Frankie Davies who played an half hour set of acoustic driven
country music with a slight edge and no little heart. There was a flicker of
maturity in her performance which benefitted from an impressive vocal range,
solid guitar playing and an enterprising enthusiasm for her music. Not afraid
from sharing the intimate inspiration for her art, Frankie struck the right
chord for what is needed to interpret and tap into high quality country music.
The moving ‘Superman’ is her current
framed gift to the music world and this was well supported on the evening by a
song recalled to be ‘High Love’ and the
excellent ‘Dancing All Night’.
Perhaps it was the commitment after several years to conquer the ‘Highwayman’ and play this iconic song
live which more than most showed Frankie’s intent to make inroads on the
country music circuit.
Chrissie and Ben are not short of experience in their
individual music endeavours and they have to quickly draw on this to match the
pace of their rapid evolution as The Shires. The hour long set they played in
Birmingham was packed with original material that weaved in a host of personal
inspiration alongside designated strategically targeted material. The vocals of
Chrissie are highly suited to the style of music being desired as she can effortlessly
move into power mode. Ben is a determined songwriter who is at ease delivering
his songs both from guitar and keyboards.
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| Frankie Davies |
With a determination to steer clear of country covers and
develop a reputation as a strong song writing duo, the couple only strayed into
the works of others for their solitary encore number and strikingly stripped
down Candi Staton’s dance classic ‘Young
Hearts Run Free’ to a slow acoustic ballad. With the new album out soon,
the wait will almost be over to see if The Shires can meet the lofty ideals of
those prepared to invest in their talents. As a duo, they haven’t had the benefit
of a serious grounding via a heap of career shaping gigs and soul searching
indie releases but they have the chance of a lifetime to fulfil their
individual personal goals of making waves in the music industry.
Check out Frankie on Facebook
