The Shires are a British country duo composed of singer-songwriters Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes. Originally formed in 2013 as a trio featuring fiddle player Lucy Warren, The Shires released their debut album Brave on 10 March 2015. It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and at number 16 on the US Billboard 200, becoming the first ever UK country act to enter the latter. In September 2016, The Shires won Vocal Duo of the Year at the 48th Annual CMA Awards, and in November 2016 they released Accidentally on Purpose, their second album. The album's lead single, "Guilty", peaked at number 31 on the Country Airplay chart.
Crissie Rhodes usually sings Dolly Parton songs at weddings, pubs, and clubs. She participated in The X Factor in 2013 but didn't make it very far. Some of the country music artists that inspire her include Alison Krauss, Martina McBride, and Faith Hill. Ben Earle was a solo artist before he met Crissy; he also supported KT Tunstall on tour. He competed on The X Factor too but failed just like Crissie did—he's been trying to be a successful songwriter for 10 years now with no avail. In 2012, Earle discovered country music while listening to Lady Antebellum, an American Grammy Award-winning group. The Kacey Musgraves album Same Trailer Different Park was a career inspiration for him. Hearing that Ben wanted to form a duo, Earle and Rhodes contacted each other after Ben posted a "There must be a country singer somewhere" message on the social media website Facebook, looking for a partner, to which Rhodes responded.
They departed for Sweden on April 21, 2014, and then to Nashville to begin preparations and record their first album. Prior to their own headlining tour in 2015, the pair performed at C2C with Ward Thomas and Little Big Town. On March 2, 2015, The Shires returned to play C2C before releasing their debut studio album Brave on March 2, 2015. The album reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, making The Shires the first UK country act to do so.
In March 2016, The Shires were chosen to be "ambassadors" for the UK at C2C, where they introduced acts on the pop-up stages throughout the event in London, played their own sets and made an appearance in the arena to introduce acts performing on the Yamaha Music Stage. Between January 19 and January 29, 2016, The Shires opened for The Corrs' comeback tour at venues including Birmingham's Genting Arena, Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena, Liverpool's Echo Arena, The O2 Arena London, Manchester Arena (all four), Glasgow SSE Hydro (three), 3Arena Dublin (two) and SSE Arena Belfast.
On July 29th, 2016, The Shires announced that their second studio album My Universe would be released just 31 days later on September 30th. They kicked off promotion for the album by releasing its lead single "Beats to Your Rhythm." Just two weeks later on September 16th, they dropped the albums namesake track as its secondary single which saw some commercial success upon release - charting at 89 in Scotland. The online music news site, Get to the Front, reviewed my album and said it was musically, lyrically, and vocally sound—everything you could ask for in a country album. My Universe debuted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and became the fastest selling UK country album of all time.
The Shires announced their third studio album, Accidentally on Purpose, would be released on April 20th, 2018. Along with the announcement of their UK tour. The first single from the album "Guilty" premiered 8 March 2018 on BBC Radio 2.
The Shires replaced Old Dominion as the main stage performance for C2C: Country to Country in March 2020, making The Shires the first UK country act to have a set on the main stage--a significant feat.
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