2012–2013: Early beginnings Crissie Rhodes has performed at weddings,
pubs and clubs performing songs by
Dolly Parton amongst others. After joining
The X Factor in
2013, she was tipped as a winner but failed to qualify out of the early rounds. Her country music influences include
Alison Krauss,
Martina McBride and
Faith Hill. Ben Earle was previously a solo artist and had supported
KT Tunstall on tour. Also a failed
The X Factor contestant, and a struggling songwriter who had been writing for 10 years, he had tried to get cuts for other artists. He discovered country music in 2012 via
Lady Antebellum, the American Grammy Award-winning group. He cites the
Kacey Musgraves album
Same Trailer Different Park as a major career inspiration. The Shires have composed songs with hit Nashville songwriter Steve Mcewan (Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood) and Play Productions an accomplished Swedish writing and production company, who comprise Tim Larsson, Johan Fransson and Tobias Lundgren, who have worked with
Rascal Flatts and
Celine Dion.
2014–2015: Brave They were invited to the
C2C: Country to Country 2014 Festival and performed at The Town Square Pop Stage on 16 March 2014 outside the
London O2 arena. Their first single "Nashville Grey Skies" was released on 4 April 2014 and received its first airplay on the
Bob Harris BBC Radio 2 Country show on 3 April 2014. It was added to the BBC Radio 2 "B" Playlist for the week commencing 3 May 2014 and climbed to the "A" playlist the following week. The song was written by Earle before visiting
Music City, which is a song about hope with a pipe dream of building, and the UK having, a country music capital of its very own. It takes the musicality influences from America whilst maintaining a Britishness with the song writing. It contains
facetious lines such as "Well they say it's way too cold for cut-off jeans and they won't be drinking
moonshine but
G & T's" and "We can build our own Nashville under these grey skies". On 21 April 2014 they travelled to Sweden and then headed to Nashville to begin preparations and record their debut album. The duo toured the UK with
Ward Thomas and
Little Big Town, prior to their own headlining tour in 2015. In March 2015 the duo returned to play C2C and also released their debut studio album
Brave on 2 March 2015. The album peaked at number 10 on the
UK Albums Chart, making The Shires the first British country act to have an album in the top 10. In March 2016, as the most successful country music act the UK has ever had, they were invited to C2C as "ambassadors", introducing the acts on the pop-up stages throughout the weekend in London, playing their own sets and appearing in the arena to introduce acts performing on the Yamaha Music Stage. The Shires opened for
The Corrs on their comeback tour in 2016 including shows at Birmingham's Genting Arena, Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena, Liverpool's Echo Arena, The O2 Arena London, Manchester Arena, Glasgow's SSE Hydro, Dublin's 3Arena and the SSE Arena Belfast between 19 and 29 January.
2016–2017: My Universe In July 2016, The Shires announced their second studio album
My Universe would be released on 30 September 2016. They released "Beats to Your Rhythm" on 29 July as the first single from the album. The second single from the album was "My Universe" and was released on 16 September 2016; it charted at 89 in Scotland. Online music news site, Get to the Front, reviewed the album and stated that "musically, lyrically and vocally there is little else you could ask for in a country album."
My Universe debuted at number 3 on the
UK Albums Chart and became the fastest selling British country album of all time. In October 2016, The Shires secured a recording contract with American label
Big Machine Label Group and its imprint
Dot Records. The Shires said : "We are absolutely thrilled to sign with Dot Records in the US. The UK is our home and we are proud of our success so far, thanks to
Decca Records, but it's always been a massive goal for us to build our presence and make a name for ourselves in the USA." In 2017 their new single "Daddy's Little Girl" was released, joining BBC Radio 2's playlist. It is about Rhodes's late father; the video features footage of her and her dad. On 9 March 2017, The Shires were presented with their first
CMA Award by
Kristian Bush during the songwriters event at the
C2C: Country to Country festival.
2018–2020: Accidentally on Purpose On 26 January 2018, The Shires announced their third studio album
Accidentally on Purpose would be released on 20 April 2018 alongside a UK tour. On 8 March 2018, the first single from the album "Guilty" premiered on
BBC Radio 2 before being released that day. The second single "Accidentally on Purpose" was released on 9 June 2018. The third single "Echo" was released on 13 July 2018. In 2019, Earle and Rhodes were awarded Honorary Doctorates of the Arts by the
University of Bedfordshire for their services to the Arts. In March 2020, The Shires were announced to be playing the main stage at the
C2C: Country to Country festival, replacing
Old Dominion who withdrew due to concerns over the
COVID-19 pandemic, making The Shires the first British country act to perform a set on the main stage. March 2020 saw the release of a compilation album called
Greatest Hits, which saw the end of their record deal with Decca. The album featured highlights from all three studio albums to that point, as well as many of the band's singles. However, chart wise it failed to equal the success of their other albums only reaching number 52. The duo also released in March 2020 a new album for their new label BMG entitled
Good Years. A single "This Independence Day" was included. This album also saw the group return to the top five of both the Country and National charts which they had also achieved with their previous two studio albums.
2021–present: 10 Year Plan and Bonfire In January 2022, The Shires announced their lead single from their upcoming fifth album,
10 Year Plan would be titled "I See Stars". The band appeared on the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show with Zoe Ball for the single's debut on 26 January, and followed it with the release date for their new album on 11 March 2022. "I See Stars" was BBC Radio 2's record of the week in February 2022. Following the release of
10 Year Plan, the duo took time off from recording while Rhodes and Earle started families, though they continued to tour. On 13 March 2026, they announced their first new album in four years,
Bonfire, which is set for release on 3 July. It was accompanied by the release of lead single "Getaway Car". ==Discography==