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Now, country music is usually associated with Nashville in | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
Tennessee, but it's becoming increasingly popular here thanks to bands like this lot. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:09 | |
This programme contains some strong language | 0:00:09 | 0:00:12 | |
Hyde Park, how we doing? | 0:00:12 | 0:00:13 | |
It's been a very busy year. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:16 | |
It's almost too much to kind of take in. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:18 | |
-The Shires! -The Shires! -The Shires! | 0:00:22 | 0:00:24 | |
Who knew two years ago that all of this would happen to them? | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
# It's time | 0:00:33 | 0:00:34 | |
# Oh, I'm desperate... # | 0:00:34 | 0:00:39 | |
It's very, very, very exciting and nerve-racking. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:43 | |
# ..inside me now | 0:00:43 | 0:00:45 | |
# It's a fire that never burns... # | 0:00:45 | 0:00:49 | |
Just a kind of dream for us. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
Yeah, to actually make it out here would be everything. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
# I'll bet she's beautiful | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
# That girl he talks about... # | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
When you hear them, they don't sound like anyone else and it's such a | 0:00:59 | 0:01:02 | |
great story. | 0:01:02 | 0:01:04 | |
# You're the reason I'm singing | 0:01:05 | 0:01:11 | |
# And the beat of my soul... # | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
It's so competitive and there are people getting off the bus every day | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
from every little town coming and going, | 0:01:18 | 0:01:20 | |
"I think I could be the next big thing." | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
# You know my heart | 0:01:22 | 0:01:26 | |
# Like nobody else | 0:01:26 | 0:01:28 | |
# You saved me from myself. # | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
# Well, they say it's way too cold | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
# For cut-off jeans... # | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
It was really important for us from day one to sing about stuff that is | 0:01:58 | 0:02:02 | |
real. We can't sing about drugs, | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
we can't sing about drinking whisky and sitting on tailgates | 0:02:04 | 0:02:07 | |
because that's not stuff that we know. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:09 | |
# We can build our own Nashville underneath these grey skies... # | 0:02:09 | 0:02:15 | |
The truth for us is trying to build our own Nashville over here. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
# People will come They'll come from far and wide... # | 0:02:18 | 0:02:24 | |
That was what we wanted to achieve. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:26 | |
We wanted to bring country music over here. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:28 | |
It just so happened that there was a big sort of gap in the market for that. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
# We'll build our own Nashville It's about time. # | 0:02:32 | 0:02:37 | |
Nashville Grey Skies, | 0:02:37 | 0:02:39 | |
I wrote that myself just before we | 0:02:39 | 0:02:40 | |
went to Nashville for the first time. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
And I had this vision of just people at Glastonbury, in their wellies, | 0:02:42 | 0:02:46 | |
it was completely muddy and loads of rain and stuff, just singing, | 0:02:46 | 0:02:49 | |
you know... | 0:02:49 | 0:02:51 | |
# Whoa-oah... # ..that hook. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:52 | |
# Whoa-oah | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
# Whoa-oah... # | 0:02:54 | 0:02:57 | |
That still takes me by surprise, how much people love that song. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:01 | |
And you just feel the energy just go from nought to 100 in a second. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:06 | |
It's going to sound arrogant to say it, | 0:03:10 | 0:03:12 | |
but it's like the unofficial anthem of sort of UK country now and, yeah, | 0:03:12 | 0:03:16 | |
we just got to try and write another one. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
So we're off to | 0:03:26 | 0:03:28 | |
Chepstow Castle in Wales. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
-Yeah. -On a beautiful day. Not! | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
It was only like two-and-a-half years ago, | 0:03:34 | 0:03:36 | |
two years ago, we were driving ourselves around. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
Still it feels just like a dream. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:40 | |
Like the festival season for us is good shows for us I think because it | 0:03:42 | 0:03:47 | |
covers lots of age groups. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:49 | |
And I think that's definitely what our music's about. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
It's either new country or country/pop. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:55 | |
Cool. | 0:03:58 | 0:03:59 | |
Look at this! This is way cool. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
Just casually playing in a castle. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:07 | |
-What do you need, Glenn? -I think I might need mine up a little bit. My vocal. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:13 | |
Just my vocal up. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:14 | |
# As long as the world keeps turning and turning... # | 0:04:14 | 0:04:21 | |
We remember playing to tiny little pubs and to see the amount of people | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
coming down nowadays, | 0:04:25 | 0:04:26 | |
there's so much excitement for country music here in the UK. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:29 | |
A kind of contrasting look, isn't it? | 0:04:32 | 0:04:35 | |
That we've got between us, I think. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:37 | |
You know, stereotypically, | 0:04:37 | 0:04:38 | |
you wouldn't expect Ben maybe to enjoy country music. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:42 | |
I think that's what we've kind of had in the past. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
But you know what? I think it just really works. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
Our voices seem to really work | 0:04:48 | 0:04:50 | |
together and our looks being, you know, | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
so contrasting, I think works really well, I think. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:56 | |
BAND PLAYS | 0:04:56 | 0:04:58 | |
CHEERING | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
Chepstow! | 0:05:07 | 0:05:08 | |
INDISTINCT LYRICS | 0:05:10 | 0:05:12 | |
'Ben's an amazing songwriter. He really is.' | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
You know when he's written another good song | 0:05:22 | 0:05:25 | |
is that you walk away and you're still singing it. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
# Tonight, tonight | 0:05:28 | 0:05:29 | |
# Been waiting all my life for tonight | 0:05:29 | 0:05:31 | |
# It's like we never said goodbye... # | 0:05:31 | 0:05:34 | |
It comes back to what you think country is. | 0:05:34 | 0:05:37 | |
We have always said it's just about the honesty and the storytelling. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:40 | |
It's kind of our catchphrase, really. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
That's why we will always be a new country band. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
THEY CHANT | 0:05:45 | 0:05:46 | |
'They are in this together. I love that about them.' | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
You know, they're supporting each other, having shared experiences, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
which are blowing their minds. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
Who knew two years ago that all of this would happen to them? | 0:05:56 | 0:05:59 | |
-Thank you so much! -Thank you so much. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:01 | |
Thank you. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
UK country had never had a | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
breakthrough moment prior to The Shires | 0:06:05 | 0:06:08 | |
and The Shires have spun American country music into their own | 0:06:08 | 0:06:12 | |
individual unique sound. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:13 | |
And then they become the point of an arrow for all these other | 0:06:13 | 0:06:18 | |
bands now that are following them. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
# I wanna be with you everywhere... # | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
'They're another band that are kind | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
of spearheading this kind of country music movement. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:32 | |
'Both, us too, were influenced by Fleetwood Mac.' | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
So to get up there and sing this kind of four-part harmony, you know, | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
to thousands of people, it was so much fun. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:40 | |
THEY HARMONISE | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
The Shires, they've done huge stuff for country music. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:47 | |
Their first album was just like really, really made a mark and | 0:06:47 | 0:06:52 | |
I think that there is a big thing happening at the moment. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
We've seen people all around the country while we're on tour talking about | 0:06:58 | 0:07:02 | |
how they've loved country music for years and years and years and now it's suddenly happening | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
and it just seems to be less of a gimmick. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
It seems to be less of a dirty word. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:09 | |
# You wear the years like a brand-new jacket | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
# One I couldn't have given you... # | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
'I think Ward Thomas are just great. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:20 | |
'Like The Shires, they're bringing an English take to country' | 0:07:20 | 0:07:25 | |
and they've got sibling harmonies and that really, really is important, | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
the way that their voices match. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:30 | |
# I've been running circles | 0:07:30 | 0:07:32 | |
# Always getting nowhere | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
# Putting on a show | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
# But you won't see... # | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
'We've booked this tour, | 0:07:42 | 0:07:43 | |
'let's put this album out and hopefully it gets received well.' | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
Our manager just called us up, "Oh, by the way, you've got number one." | 0:07:46 | 0:07:52 | |
And we were like... We were completely shocked and we still are. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
# Always getting nowhere | 0:07:55 | 0:07:57 | |
# Putting on a show but you won't see | 0:07:57 | 0:08:03 | |
# I've been doing cartwheels. # | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
# We built our own Nashville | 0:08:10 | 0:08:12 | |
# Underneath these grey skies... # | 0:08:12 | 0:08:17 | |
-Do you want to have that? -No? No. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
He is so tired. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
This is baby River and Mummy, Vicky. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
And baby River, you were born the morning of Glastonbury. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:34 | |
So we played Glastonbury at 9pm and he was born at 1am in the morning. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
How was the birth, Mummy? | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
You feel guilty, obviously, but... | 0:08:42 | 0:08:45 | |
Are you bored of this story, are you? | 0:08:45 | 0:08:46 | |
But you have to do it. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
-Yeah. -Because we've been through | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
harder times when we first got together and I think now, now it's | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
sort of happening for us a bit more, | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
give got to just really capitalise on it and make sure that | 0:08:58 | 0:09:00 | |
he's all right and we're all right and stuff. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:02 | |
When we first started going out, you had your publishing deal. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:05 | |
But then when we moved in together, | 0:09:05 | 0:09:06 | |
then was working at a Three store and you were doing... | 0:09:06 | 0:09:09 | |
-Mobile phone shop. -Mobile phone shop. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:11 | |
And you are doing five days a week of the mobile phone shop and the | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
other two days, he was doing music. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:16 | |
It was really struggling then, money wise. | 0:09:16 | 0:09:19 | |
I had nothing left and no songs getting taken. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:21 | |
-We had this tiny, tiny flat. -Tiny studio, little flat. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
It was... Yeah. It was like a top floor thing and I sort of stood in | 0:09:24 | 0:09:28 | |
the shower and I said... I was crying. I was literally crying, wasn't I? And I said, like, | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
"If you want to go off and be with some guy from the City, you know, | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
"I wouldn't blame you. And off you go because, you know, I don't know if it's going to work out." | 0:09:35 | 0:09:39 | |
And Vicky was literally like, "You have to keep going, | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
"you have to keep going because I really believe we'll be fine." | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
I just knew... I just knew he'd make it. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
The biggest thing as a songwriter and any musician is it's accepting | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
the rejection. That's the biggest thing. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
I mean, the amount of songs that I've sent to people. | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
You know, Shires' songs got pitched for other people and you don't get a | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
response, or someone goes, "Oh, that... | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
"Not that song, it's not right." | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
You know, and it's just their opinion. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
And it's once you understand that, that's when you understand the industry. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
No-one knows what they're talking about. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
Songs like Brave and Black And White, we played them for | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
quite a while before The Shires got going. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:16 | |
Those songs now that people go, "Brave changed my life." | 0:10:16 | 0:10:18 | |
# Lie down, just forget the world | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
# And your worries | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
# Calm down | 0:10:36 | 0:10:37 | |
# Don't be so absurd | 0:10:38 | 0:10:41 | |
# I'm sorry it's not the first time | 0:10:42 | 0:10:47 | |
# I've seen you cry | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
# You don't have too be so brave tonight. # | 0:10:53 | 0:10:59 | |
'The thing about Brave is that it's about vulnerability, really, | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
'and it's about saying, "You don't have to be so strong." ' | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
And I think the most simple things are the most powerful. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
# Let me mend your broken soul. # | 0:11:11 | 0:11:18 | |
BABY FUSSES | 0:11:28 | 0:11:30 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:11:30 | 0:11:31 | |
I've always been influenced by country. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
I think that's where Ben and I kind of differ. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
It's that I've been a lifelong country fan. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:43 | |
COUNTRY SONG PLAYS | 0:11:43 | 0:11:46 | |
My mum would bring me CDs of Alison Krauss and I would sit at home | 0:11:48 | 0:11:52 | |
listening to Martina McBride, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
you know, all of those girls. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
I mean, I did every talent show when I was a kid. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
I think I've got a little... I've got a little poster here... | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
..of me when I was aged 13 and I won | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
that talent show in the Westgate shopping centre in Stevenage. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:15 | |
Then, obviously the biggest talent show that I'd done was X Factor, | 0:12:15 | 0:12:20 | |
which I got down to Boot Camp and I was in Nicole Scherzinger's team. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
When I left uni, I was part of different function bands. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:27 | |
I was endlessly looking for more work all the time. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:30 | |
Putting up online, you know, come and see me at this show, | 0:12:30 | 0:12:33 | |
this little tiny pub. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
I just thought, you know what? I love country music, | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
I'm just going to throw up some videos of me singing some country songs. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:41 | |
So this was It Matters To Me by Faith Hill. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:43 | |
# When we don't talk | 0:12:43 | 0:12:45 | |
# When we don't touch | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
# When it doesn't feel like we're even in love | 0:12:47 | 0:12:53 | |
# It matters to me | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
# When I don't know what to say | 0:12:58 | 0:13:00 | |
# Don't know what to do | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
# Don't know if it even really matters... # | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
'I never thought that country music was naff or uncool, | 0:13:05 | 0:13:08 | |
'I just loved it myself. | 0:13:08 | 0:13:10 | |
'But nobody else really shared that opinion with me.' | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
I never was really into country growing up. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:20 | |
And it's weird cos I heard the song Need You Now. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
I remember very clearly, and it was kind of like coming home. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:29 | |
# It's a quarter after one | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
# I'm all alone and I need you now... # | 0:13:31 | 0:13:36 | |
It was like, wow, this is literally everything I want from music. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
# ..I need you now... # | 0:13:40 | 0:13:43 | |
In every form, lyrically, | 0:13:43 | 0:13:44 | |
the production and just how kind of honest and earnest it was. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
I was just like, "There must be a female country singer around London." | 0:13:48 | 0:13:55 | |
That's when I put the Facebook post up. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:57 | |
So, this is the original Facebook post that I put out that | 0:13:58 | 0:14:01 | |
started The Shires. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:03 | |
On the 8th of May, 2013. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:06 | |
I said, "My music friends, | 0:14:06 | 0:14:07 | |
"does anyone know of a great female singer in London who's quite country, pop, | 0:14:07 | 0:14:11 | |
"who wants to sing with me? | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
"Someone must know someone!?!" | 0:14:13 | 0:14:17 | |
That was the frustration I was talking about. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:19 | |
It was my friend Laura Jane Hunter that tagged me into this status and | 0:14:19 | 0:14:23 | |
she simply put, "Try Crissie, she's fab." | 0:14:23 | 0:14:27 | |
He got in touch with me and he sent me the songs, and Black And White | 0:14:27 | 0:14:31 | |
was the first one that I listened to and I was blown away. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:35 | |
I couldn't believe it, I was just, "Oh, my goodness, | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
"I cannot wait to get my voice on this track." | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
# So you got perspective | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
# You were given two ears... # | 0:14:50 | 0:14:53 | |
'I'm not a singer, I'm a songwriter who sings.' | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
# So you hear it from both sides... # | 0:14:56 | 0:14:58 | |
'Whereas Crissie is a singer, and she's absolutely amazing.' | 0:14:58 | 0:15:02 | |
It was the best thing. Meeting her was just the best thing ever, musically. | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
# It's black and white. # | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:15:16 | 0:15:17 | |
We wrote down about, I think, about five or six goals. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
I said, "We need to get our songs to Bob Harris." | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
And at the time, because Ben didn't really know a lot about country, | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
he was like, "Who's Bob Harris?" | 0:15:27 | 0:15:29 | |
And I was like, "He's the leading man in country music here in the UK." | 0:15:29 | 0:15:34 | |
He just got our demo and said, "I need to play Nashville Grey Skies on my radio show." | 0:15:34 | 0:15:39 | |
I think he was really excited that there were some Brits | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
trying to do country music in the UK. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
They were amazing. They... | 0:15:45 | 0:15:47 | |
You could somehow just tell that, a, their music was good enough, | 0:15:47 | 0:15:51 | |
but that, b, they had the depth of determination to make it work. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:56 | |
You know, they were hungry to make this a success. | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
Now, it's The Shires with a track from their brand-new album which is out today. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:04 | |
..brand-new album Brave has made history, breaking into the UK album chart. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
-We'll speak to them in just a moment. Very good morning to you, both. -Good morning. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
Performing All Over Again from their new album, Brave, | 0:16:11 | 0:16:13 | |
please welcome The Shires. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:14 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
# Back when you were younger and the summer would last forever | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
# Looking and you and loving you That's the way you make me feel... # | 0:16:28 | 0:16:32 | |
Brave had surpassed our expectations so far. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
Like, to do 100,000, or more than that, but to go gold, we never thought would happen. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:41 | |
I mean, the whole thing has been kind of dreamlike. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:44 | |
We don't kind of sit back and go, "Wow, we sold this many records and we started this whole movement." | 0:16:44 | 0:16:48 | |
Because it just kind of happened. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:50 | |
I think the American artists are really jumping at the chance to be | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
able to perform at Country To Country. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
Everyone's kind of talking about, "You know, you need to play this show." | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
# I've cursed on a Sunday... # | 0:17:09 | 0:17:11 | |
We came over to C2C and the reaction | 0:17:11 | 0:17:13 | |
was so big that we called our booking agent. | 0:17:13 | 0:17:16 | |
You have got to book a tour this year. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
The fans are so excited, we have to give them the tour that we gave | 0:17:19 | 0:17:22 | |
all of our fans in the States. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:24 | |
You go to a festival where all of us are on that show, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:30 | |
you literally get to see a dose of everything that's happening in | 0:17:30 | 0:17:32 | |
the genre right now. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:33 | |
I think that that is... That's like the coolest thing ever. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:36 | |
It's the coolest time to ever be in country music to me. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:38 | |
# I'll bet she's beautiful That girl he talks about | 0:17:38 | 0:17:42 | |
# And she's got everything that I have to live without... # | 0:17:42 | 0:17:48 | |
It took a while for a new generation of artists to be arriving that had | 0:17:48 | 0:17:55 | |
a much wider horizon line. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:57 | |
One of the key people in that is a guy called Scott Borchetta, | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
who signed Taylor Swift to | 0:18:00 | 0:18:01 | |
Big Machine and Scott saw the Taylor Swift | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
project as being a worldwide project. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:06 | |
It wasn't just localised to Nashville. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
# The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star... # | 0:18:08 | 0:18:13 | |
What I love about the British and their affection for American music | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
is, if we treat them properly, if we come and visit them often, | 0:18:16 | 0:18:22 | |
if we bring them along for the ride, then they're in. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
And the beautiful thing is when the British are in, | 0:18:26 | 0:18:30 | |
it's for their entire career. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:31 | |
That's something that I got Taylor to understand very early. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:35 | |
Thomas Rhett coming over right now in real-time | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
to understand very early in his | 0:18:38 | 0:18:39 | |
career. We have the conversation with all of them. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
If I can come to London and sell this place out, I mean, | 0:18:44 | 0:18:46 | |
I can't even believe that there's this many people showing up to see | 0:18:46 | 0:18:50 | |
our show tonight in London, or in Manchester, or wherever we're going. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:54 | |
I always just love being my own person. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
And especially when I started writing songs. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:01 | |
There's a big thing about, you know, | 0:19:01 | 0:19:03 | |
you're only country if you have steel or fiddle, | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
or if you wear a cowboy hat, or if you wear cowboy boots. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
And I think that that, to me, that just doesn't make sense in my mind. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:14 | |
BAND REHEARSES | 0:19:14 | 0:19:15 | |
I do love pop music, I love hip-hop, I love jazz, I love Frank Sinatra. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:28 | |
One of my favourite artists in the world. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:30 | |
But at heart, I'm a country artist. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:32 | |
You know, I may wear skinny jeans and Vans and not dress the part, but | 0:19:32 | 0:19:36 | |
to me country music is all about storytelling. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:38 | |
Today, we are shooting for You magazine for the Daily Mail, | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
so that will be coming out very soon to promote the album. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:54 | |
The brand-new album. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:55 | |
Let's do it. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:57 | |
That's it, hold that. That's so nice. | 0:19:57 | 0:19:59 | |
It's five weeks till the album comes out, | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
so we're doing loads of interviews and a video as well. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
Then we've got things like this. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:07 | |
And, yeah, it's all sort of... You feel it kind of ramp up. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
It's a real feeling and nerves start to kick in. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:13 | |
Love that. Perfect! | 0:20:13 | 0:20:15 | |
'You know, we'll see where' | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
the album goes, but it's very, very, very exciting and nerve-racking. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
You're blue steeling it now, aren't you? | 0:20:21 | 0:20:25 | |
Look at that. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:26 | |
When we first got together, | 0:20:26 | 0:20:28 | |
we said if people think we are a couple, we're doing a great job. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:32 | |
Little smile, Ben, yeah. That's great, Crissie. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:35 | |
But I find it fascinating how a girl and a guy, | 0:20:35 | 0:20:37 | |
you just can't work together and people can't think... | 0:20:37 | 0:20:41 | |
they have to be sleeping with each other. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
You know, of course people and the press will want to make it into | 0:20:43 | 0:20:45 | |
a thing, but, you know, we're just friends. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
-That's great. -That's cool. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:49 | |
And do you write all your lyrics together? | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
We write together, we write separately and we write with other people, | 0:20:52 | 0:20:55 | |
-as well. -And what are your future ambitions? | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
Go platinum with a record. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
Incredible. And I think to make it in the US. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
-The USA. -Yeah. -Yeah. | 0:21:03 | 0:21:05 | |
Before My Universe was released, a lot of people were going, | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
"Oh, the difficult second album, how you feeling?" | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
Every interview that we had, going around radio stations, | 0:21:11 | 0:21:14 | |
-they were like, "Oh." -Like, "Brave was so good, how can you top it, | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
"how can you match it?" So, there was nerves. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
There was huge amounts of nerves. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:22 | |
And it did again feel like all or nothing, in a way. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:27 | |
And it's not a science, it's an art form. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:30 | |
And you don't know if people are going to like it or not. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:33 | |
You just never know. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:34 | |
Do you want to video it? | 0:21:34 | 0:21:36 | |
-Go on. Do it. -OK, go on, then. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:38 | |
We've just done a photo shoot. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
Oh, yes. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:41 | |
We did a gig in Sheffield once and some guy tweeted us before we went | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
on stage. He said, "When you're the only black guy at a Shires gig." | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
And I got on stage and I was like, "I know exactly how you feel." | 0:21:52 | 0:21:56 | |
Being mixed race, it's interesting | 0:21:58 | 0:22:00 | |
not being white or black when people try to be so binary | 0:22:00 | 0:22:05 | |
about it in a way. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:06 | |
You know, I'm just kind of who I am. | 0:22:06 | 0:22:08 | |
We've had it a few times when people go, "Oh, is it soul music you do or do you rap?" | 0:22:14 | 0:22:19 | |
You know, because I'm a bit brown. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:21 | |
It's, like, "Well, no, I just do music that I love." | 0:22:21 | 0:22:24 | |
And before I discovered country, | 0:22:24 | 0:22:25 | |
it was kind of weird because I kind of thought that I have to try and be cool. Not because I'm mixed race, | 0:22:25 | 0:22:30 | |
just because people expected me to try and do something cool because of the way I look generally. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:34 | |
You know, we are not a cool band. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
We just do what we love and as I've sort of grown-up, | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
I think just being who you are is the coolest thing you can do, really. | 0:22:39 | 0:22:43 | |
Yeah, that's right. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
We just want people to hear it now. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:52 | |
It's two weeks tomorrow. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
Which is just amazing, so... | 0:22:54 | 0:22:55 | |
30th of September. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:57 | |
Yeah. It's really exciting. We've got lots of TV and press and promos | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
to do in that kind of week and the weeks leading up to it. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:04 | |
-All right, guys, we're going to go for another take. -Cool. We good? | 0:23:04 | 0:23:08 | |
BACKING TRACK STARTS | 0:23:13 | 0:23:15 | |
# My heart still skips a beat | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
# When you look at me | 0:23:26 | 0:23:29 | |
# You don't even know the things you do... # | 0:23:31 | 0:23:35 | |
'The two of us, we got into the music industry because we love music | 0:23:35 | 0:23:39 | |
and all of a sudden you have to be | 0:23:39 | 0:23:41 | |
this kind of model, this actor, you know, | 0:23:41 | 0:23:43 | |
these jobs that you don't really know about before, | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
so you just kind of learn on the day. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
Perfect, we're just going to do the same thing again. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:51 | |
And we're just doing close-ups of you on this one. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:53 | |
Awesome, cut there. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:03 | |
Excellent, perfect. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:05 | |
CHRIS EVANS: And the people who have worked hardest this morning, | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
biggest round of applause, please, for The Shires. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:24:12 | 0:24:13 | |
The Shires new album, My Universe, is out today. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:18 | |
Now, we've got a real treat for you. | 0:24:18 | 0:24:19 | |
Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle have got even bigger since they first | 0:24:19 | 0:24:23 | |
appeared on the programme last year. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:25 | |
The duo, known as The Shires, of course you know them, | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
they've got a new album out today. And it's creating a bit of a buzz. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
Seven minutes past five, Magic Drivetime, | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
The Shires are back in town. Hi, guys! | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
I mean it's been a very busy year, almost too much to kind of take in. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:40 | |
This is album number two, so this Friday, it's going to be in the charts. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:44 | |
-Yeah. -Yes! | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
-Have you see the midweeks? -We've seen the midweeks, we're number three. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
-Thank you. -Thank you. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
# You're electric | 0:25:11 | 0:25:12 | |
# It's infectious | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
# My heart beats to your rhythm... # | 0:25:15 | 0:25:18 | |
We've just played HMV Oxford Street, about 200 of our fans here. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:22 | |
-About 300. -300, sorry, is it? | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
And we arrived in a blue Chevy, which was amazing. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
And, yeah, we're just celebrating the album being out. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:30 | |
We're going to go out and sign some albums now and meet them and chat, it's been great. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:34 | |
Hello, how are you? | 0:25:34 | 0:25:36 | |
'Cameras everywhere.' | 0:25:36 | 0:25:38 | |
It just feels like everything stepped up a gear for My Universe, this album. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
We're mega excited. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:43 | |
-Hey, Dan. -How's it going? Good to see you. -How's things? | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
'Our manager, Steve, was in very close contact with Radio 2, | 0:25:56 | 0:26:02 | |
'it was them that were the driving force, right from the very beginning.' | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
'Overloaded, please reduce the load. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
'Doors opening. Mind the doors.' | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
It's fine now. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:12 | |
Bob Harris Country here on Radio 2. | 0:26:13 | 0:26:16 | |
And welcome to Ben and to Crissie, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
The Shires are here with us on Radio 2. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:21 | |
So this is The Shires, from My Universe, the CD itself, | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
and it's called A Thousand Hallelujahs. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:29 | |
Oh, what's happened? | 0:26:29 | 0:26:30 | |
Oh. I have no idea. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:34 | |
That is very strange. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:36 | |
The CD refuses to allow me. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:39 | |
-Can you do it live? -We haven't tried it before, | 0:26:39 | 0:26:42 | |
-but this is genuinely a first. -We have no idea. | 0:26:42 | 0:26:44 | |
Here we go. | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
# I've been foolish | 0:26:51 | 0:26:53 | |
# I've been mistaken | 0:26:53 | 0:26:55 | |
# I've been blinded | 0:26:55 | 0:26:57 | |
# I've felt my heart breaking... # | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
'The first time I heard The Shires, | 0:27:00 | 0:27:02 | |
'and I don't remember what the first song was but I took about 30 seconds | 0:27:02 | 0:27:05 | |
'and you go, "Yep, that works." ' | 0:27:05 | 0:27:07 | |
Country music has always been aimed at the mainstream. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:12 | |
It's not for, | 0:27:12 | 0:27:13 | |
it's a terrible cliche, it's not for the hipsters in Shoreditch. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:17 | |
Or in Brooklyn. It's for the ordinary person in the street. | 0:27:17 | 0:27:21 | |
Which doesn't make it cool, however you want to define it, | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
but it makes it populist. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
# Hallelujah! | 0:27:26 | 0:27:27 | |
# Hallelujah! | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
# Hallelujah! | 0:27:29 | 0:27:31 | |
# The moment I saw you my love. # | 0:27:31 | 0:27:36 | |
It was a cunning ploy. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
A Thousand Hallelujahs. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:45 | |
Live in the studio here. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:47 | |
I had to reboot the CD machine. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:49 | |
So, that's working now but I'm glad, | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
I'm so glad we got to hear that live. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:53 | |
'No UK act has ever gone to America and broken country.' | 0:27:56 | 0:28:00 | |
On the first album we didn't push it, we were potentially going to go, | 0:28:00 | 0:28:05 | |
we went over and we did some shows over there. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:07 | |
But we decided not to go heavy because you are only really going to get one shot. So we held off. | 0:28:07 | 0:28:11 | |
And then in the last couple of, | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
in the last four weeks, suddenly Scott came, suddenly appeared, | 0:28:13 | 0:28:19 | |
and started making moves towards the band and we were like | 0:28:19 | 0:28:23 | |
"Oh, my God, this is amazing." | 0:28:23 | 0:28:24 | |
Somebody as big as what Scott Borchetta is, you know, | 0:28:24 | 0:28:29 | |
wanting to represent us over there. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:32 | |
-That means quite a lot. -It sounds like he wants to make the move and | 0:28:32 | 0:28:35 | |
this is the moment he's going to push the button. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:38 | |
I'm always looking for individuality. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:41 | |
And when I first met The Shires several years back, | 0:28:41 | 0:28:43 | |
they definitely had that. They just needed to develop. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
And I think when you hear them, they don't sound like anyone else, | 0:28:46 | 0:28:50 | |
and it's such a great story. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:51 | |
# I see the sunrise | 0:28:55 | 0:28:58 | |
# Creeping in | 0:28:58 | 0:29:00 | |
# Everything changes like the desert wind... # | 0:29:00 | 0:29:05 | |
We've just signed a deal with Big Machine. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
We're the first British act to be signed over here. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:11 | |
Just a kind of dream for us to do that. | 0:29:11 | 0:29:13 | |
Yes, I think to make it in Nashville, | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
when we first got together it was a dream even just to come out here | 0:29:16 | 0:29:18 | |
but, you know, to actually make it out here would be everything. | 0:29:18 | 0:29:21 | |
This is Broadway in Nashville. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:28 | |
This is where it all goes down. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:29 | |
You can hear music outside already and it is not even 12 o'clock. | 0:29:33 | 0:29:37 | |
It's a great place to be. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:39 | |
Historically, British country acts have never played in any sense of | 0:29:42 | 0:29:47 | |
the word in Nashville. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:48 | |
Here you've got a band whose second album is the fastest selling British | 0:29:48 | 0:29:52 | |
country album of all time. | 0:29:52 | 0:29:53 | |
But what you have to bear in mind is that America is a much, much | 0:29:53 | 0:29:56 | |
slower market. It's a big place. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:58 | |
And it takes a long time to break it. | 0:29:58 | 0:30:01 | |
This is our first time going to Big Machine. | 0:30:03 | 0:30:05 | |
We are on Music Row. It's so great round here, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:07 | |
you can literally feel the kind of energy. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:10 | |
Every one of these buildings is some kind of publishers and songwriters. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
-Hey there. -Hey. -How are you? | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
Good, thanks. Be careful, don't hit your head on the way down. | 0:30:27 | 0:30:29 | |
OK. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:30 | |
Welcome to the attic. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:33 | |
How are you all doing? | 0:30:34 | 0:30:36 | |
Great, how are you? | 0:30:36 | 0:30:37 | |
Good. My favourite thing about writing | 0:30:37 | 0:30:40 | |
is that, like, I love | 0:30:40 | 0:30:42 | |
getting with artists and trying to figure out what they want to say and | 0:30:42 | 0:30:45 | |
how I can help them say what they want to say. | 0:30:45 | 0:30:47 | |
The thing we're both feeling, we spoke a bit this morning, | 0:30:47 | 0:30:49 | |
we just want to get something a bit up-tempo with a bit of energy. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:52 | |
-Yep. -We just want to write hits. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:54 | |
HE VOCALISES TO A MELODY | 0:30:55 | 0:30:57 | |
At the moment it feels like Big Machine is the perfect home for us. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:07 | |
I think they enhance their artists by leaving them to do their thing, | 0:31:07 | 0:31:11 | |
putting them in with the writers | 0:31:11 | 0:31:13 | |
that aren't going to waste their time. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:15 | |
# People come and people go... # | 0:31:17 | 0:31:18 | |
But then, on the business side of it, they're going to be able to catapult us into | 0:31:20 | 0:31:24 | |
another level that we couldn't have | 0:31:24 | 0:31:26 | |
done with just Decca in the UK, kind of thing. | 0:31:26 | 0:31:29 | |
# Get in the car and go I know | 0:31:30 | 0:31:33 | |
# I hit every red light on the way | 0:31:33 | 0:31:35 | |
# Bumper to bumper just another day... # | 0:31:35 | 0:31:38 | |
'We're not just signing another duo off the street who's landed in Nashville. | 0:31:38 | 0:31:43 | |
'We have a great story coming from the UK' | 0:31:43 | 0:31:46 | |
so I think it will help us make the right noise upfront and then, | 0:31:46 | 0:31:51 | |
it's one thing to get the gatekeepers, get the press, get the industry. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
But we've got to see if the fans like it. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
-It's been fun, it's been great, hasn't it? -Yeah, it's been really good fun. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:00 | |
We've got pretty much a song, we just get the second verse done. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:03 | |
Great writing with Eli.. Elimy? Emily. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
'There's an expression they use in Nashville' | 0:32:12 | 0:32:15 | |
that says, it all begins with a song. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:18 | |
'And, for all the great artists and all the great singers, | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
'having the great songs is what really catapults. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:26 | |
'The song in Nashville is king.' | 0:32:26 | 0:32:28 | |
# I've been waiting somewhere outside alone | 0:32:33 | 0:32:37 | |
# I've been waiting somewhere... # | 0:32:37 | 0:32:43 | |
I had another bit. | 0:32:46 | 0:32:47 | |
It could kind of be, you have those places, you might even have had | 0:32:47 | 0:32:51 | |
this with Nashville, like, where it's kind of like, | 0:32:51 | 0:32:54 | |
you haven't been there often but you go back to it and it's almost like | 0:32:54 | 0:32:58 | |
going back to see an old friend. | 0:32:58 | 0:33:00 | |
# I don't | 0:33:00 | 0:33:02 | |
# Know when I'm going to see you again | 0:33:02 | 0:33:07 | |
# You're going to... # | 0:33:07 | 0:33:08 | |
That's nice. | 0:33:08 | 0:33:10 | |
# When I leave you | 0:33:11 | 0:33:14 | |
# I never really say goodbye | 0:33:14 | 0:33:16 | |
# There's a part of you | 0:33:18 | 0:33:19 | |
# That's become a part of me | 0:33:19 | 0:33:22 | |
You got it. | 0:33:22 | 0:33:23 | |
-# Anywhere I roam will be -Will be | 0:33:23 | 0:33:27 | |
# Nashville. # | 0:33:30 | 0:33:31 | |
We can all write songs by | 0:33:34 | 0:33:35 | |
ourselves but there is something really | 0:33:35 | 0:33:37 | |
magical about sitting in a room with | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
other really creative, talented people and all of | 0:33:39 | 0:33:42 | |
these ideas come together and it's just a really collaborative thing | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
and you look at the songs in country and they are just so special because of it. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:49 | |
# Oh, Nashville | 0:33:49 | 0:33:52 | |
# It's been way too long. # | 0:33:52 | 0:33:54 | |
Country music is an original American art form, | 0:34:04 | 0:34:07 | |
it represents the crossroads of so many different kinds of music. | 0:34:07 | 0:34:10 | |
It's connected to the blues, | 0:34:10 | 0:34:12 | |
connected to soul and rock and roll | 0:34:12 | 0:34:14 | |
but its distinctive, southern voice, | 0:34:14 | 0:34:17 | |
I think captures something about America that's very true. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:20 | |
# I keep the ends out for the tie that binds | 0:34:20 | 0:34:25 | |
# Because you're mine, I walk the line. # | 0:34:25 | 0:34:28 | |
I think that the saying country music is three chords and the truth | 0:34:28 | 0:34:32 | |
represents a certain ideal that many fans of country music and also musicians embrace. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:39 | |
In other words, that country is direct, that it is pure, | 0:34:39 | 0:34:43 | |
that it is musically something that you can grasp easily and that values | 0:34:43 | 0:34:48 | |
simplicity in a way. | 0:34:48 | 0:34:50 | |
Three chords and the truth. But it is. | 0:34:50 | 0:34:53 | |
G, C and D and sing the truth. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:56 | |
Whenever you get a bit of writer's block and you are struggling, | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
you just go, well, what is going on in your life? Write about that. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:02 | |
You can go, baby, baby, baby in rock and, you know... | 0:35:02 | 0:35:07 | |
With the right riff, it's awesome. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:09 | |
But country, you have got to do something that makes the hair on your arms stand up. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:13 | |
You have got to find those lyrics that freak everybody out. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:15 | |
# Jolene, Jolene | 0:35:18 | 0:35:20 | |
# Jolene, Jolene | 0:35:20 | 0:35:24 | |
# I'm begging of you please don't take my man... # | 0:35:24 | 0:35:28 | |
'Dolly Parton's Jolene is one of the songs that brings me into that moment | 0:35:28 | 0:35:33 | |
'and into that emotion and it makes you feel like the person who is | 0:35:33 | 0:35:38 | |
'singing it is experiencing that.' | 0:35:38 | 0:35:40 | |
# And I can easily understand | 0:35:40 | 0:35:44 | |
# How you could easily take my man | 0:35:44 | 0:35:46 | |
# But you don't know what it means to me, Jolene... # | 0:35:46 | 0:35:51 | |
'It just builds this picture and you can hear this longing' | 0:35:51 | 0:35:55 | |
in the song of, you know, I can't control this, | 0:35:55 | 0:35:58 | |
you are the early person who can and please have pity on me. | 0:35:58 | 0:36:01 | |
# Jolene, Jolene | 0:36:01 | 0:36:05 | |
# Jolene, Jolene | 0:36:05 | 0:36:07 | |
# Please don't take him even though you can | 0:36:07 | 0:36:14 | |
# Jolene | 0:36:14 | 0:36:16 | |
# Jolene | 0:36:16 | 0:36:19 | |
# I mean, it's keen, Jolene. # | 0:36:19 | 0:36:21 | |
Goodnight. | 0:36:21 | 0:36:23 | |
The thing about country, I think they are the best songwriters, you know? | 0:36:23 | 0:36:27 | |
I think it's all about the song. | 0:36:27 | 0:36:29 | |
It's all about the lyrics and I think the older you get, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
the more you appreciate that kind of thing, you know? | 0:36:32 | 0:36:34 | |
When I was a kid, I just wanted to plug-in and be Tony Iommi, you know, | 0:36:34 | 0:36:38 | |
play through a loud fuzz pedal and break stuff, but the older I got, | 0:36:38 | 0:36:41 | |
I appreciate the song craft and I appreciate, you know, | 0:36:41 | 0:36:45 | |
the sense of heart and feeling and soul that's in country music. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:48 | |
The conversation we had all had with your team, who we all love, | 0:36:56 | 0:36:58 | |
-is just how to figure out how to make some slight tweaks or maybe slight remixes. -Yes. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:04 | |
Or possibly even have you right here, you know, | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
so you guys are open to that? | 0:37:08 | 0:37:10 | |
Yeah, yeah, totally. | 0:37:10 | 0:37:11 | |
-OK. -I mean, we know that Lady Antebellum remixed stuff for the UK market. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:15 | |
The US version of that compared to the UK version is so different. | 0:37:15 | 0:37:18 | |
We're happy to do something similar. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:20 | |
I mean, for us, it's just about keeping us. | 0:37:20 | 0:37:22 | |
We don't want to completely just | 0:37:22 | 0:37:24 | |
seem like we are selling out and going American, | 0:37:24 | 0:37:27 | |
even though we know we have to change our... | 0:37:27 | 0:37:29 | |
Or adapt our sound to here, but, you know, | 0:37:29 | 0:37:31 | |
if we're suddenly singing about trucks and... | 0:37:31 | 0:37:33 | |
It wouldn't work for us. But, yeah, if it's a great song and we believe | 0:37:33 | 0:37:36 | |
-in it, then, of course. -Structurally, your songs are | 0:37:36 | 0:37:38 | |
exactly as our market would need. | 0:37:38 | 0:37:42 | |
I think, if anything, it's just the sonics, | 0:37:42 | 0:37:45 | |
it might be some instrumentation tweaks and mix tweaks. | 0:37:45 | 0:37:47 | |
'She was saying about, | 0:37:47 | 0:37:50 | |
'maybe from a production side that we might need to tweak some of the songs on the album' | 0:37:50 | 0:37:54 | |
but also she was saying about that | 0:37:54 | 0:37:57 | |
-we need to still retain our kind of... -Us. -Us. | 0:37:57 | 0:38:02 | |
-Yeah. -You know, what we are about, we said that we don't want to sing | 0:38:02 | 0:38:05 | |
about trucks and, you know, stuff that we don't really, you know, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:08 | |
know about. So they're happy to kind of support us out here and get | 0:38:08 | 0:38:11 | |
-us out to the masses out here. -Yeah. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
VOCAL WARM UP EXERCISES | 0:38:13 | 0:38:14 | |
Now a really nasally sound and chest voice, | 0:38:26 | 0:38:29 | |
so... # Neh, neh, neh, neh, neh. # | 0:38:29 | 0:38:32 | |
# Neh, neh, neh, neh, neh. # | 0:38:32 | 0:38:36 | |
So, you said you don't use too much head voice ever, right? | 0:38:37 | 0:38:40 | |
No, I don't. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:41 | |
But on this new album we've got quite a few more tracks that have got some | 0:38:41 | 0:38:44 | |
head voice and now all of a sudden I'm into this kind of challenge, like, | 0:38:44 | 0:38:48 | |
whoa, this isn't something that I've been used to singing with. | 0:38:48 | 0:38:51 | |
TRACK PLAYS | 0:38:51 | 0:38:52 | |
That bit. | 0:38:56 | 0:38:58 | |
That kind of bit there, I don't really... | 0:38:58 | 0:39:00 | |
# You're my strong old-fashioned... # | 0:39:00 | 0:39:04 | |
What I would do is separate them. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:06 | |
# You're my | 0:39:06 | 0:39:07 | |
# Strong old... # | 0:39:07 | 0:39:08 | |
# You're my | 0:39:08 | 0:39:09 | |
# Strong old-fashioned... # | 0:39:09 | 0:39:11 | |
Is that easier? | 0:39:11 | 0:39:13 | |
-Yeah. -Just give it more of the pharyngeal bite sound on it. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:15 | |
# Ow... # | 0:39:15 | 0:39:17 | |
Do that. | 0:39:17 | 0:39:18 | |
# Ow... # | 0:39:18 | 0:39:19 | |
THEY RISE IN SCALE | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
So with that quality... | 0:39:24 | 0:39:25 | |
# There's no way that I'm driving home... # | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
-Yeah. -Yeah. -Super edgy. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:30 | |
-Like that? -Yeah. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:32 | |
And you're just going to be killing it live every time. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:34 | |
Thanks. So you're coming to the Bluebird tonight as well so you can see what I do live? | 0:39:34 | 0:39:38 | |
Yes, super excited. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:39 | |
I promise when I'm there I won't be critiquing you or anything. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:42 | |
-Thank you very much. -Yeah, looking forward to it. | 0:39:42 | 0:39:45 | |
Country music's biggest night ever. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:52 | |
Forget the CMAs, you can't get seats so you get in here. | 0:39:56 | 0:39:59 | |
I heard that The Shires are like the first country music band from the UK | 0:40:03 | 0:40:07 | |
and it's really unique having them here in Nashville. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
I became a fan instantly so I'm really excited to see them tonight. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:14 | |
What do you think? | 0:40:17 | 0:40:18 | |
We have always said we would love to play the Bluebird Cafe, you know, | 0:40:19 | 0:40:23 | |
that's where you play as a songwriter, you know, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
that's where the kind of Grand Ole Opry of songwriters, you know, | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
that's where they go and play, and Taylor Swift started out there. | 0:40:29 | 0:40:33 | |
It's really intimate and very nerve-racking because you're putting | 0:40:33 | 0:40:37 | |
your heart right on the line and somebody's sat right in front of you. | 0:40:37 | 0:40:40 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:40:40 | 0:40:41 | |
-Hello. -You haven't even heard us! | 0:40:45 | 0:40:48 | |
Welcome to the Bluebird, everybody. | 0:40:50 | 0:40:51 | |
-Hello. -This is our first time. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:53 | |
This is such an honour to be here. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:55 | |
We are The Shires. | 0:40:55 | 0:40:56 | |
-We are from England. -Hello. | 0:40:56 | 0:40:59 | |
We are going to play a song actually we wrote, I wrote with Brian. | 0:41:00 | 0:41:03 | |
We both wrote with Brian, sorry. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:05 | |
-I was there too. -You were there too, sorry! | 0:41:05 | 0:41:07 | |
Yeah, it was at the very first one. | 0:41:07 | 0:41:09 | |
# Here it goes again | 0:41:15 | 0:41:17 | |
# Keeping me up all night | 0:41:21 | 0:41:23 | |
# He knows every weakness | 0:41:27 | 0:41:31 | |
# Just where to stick the knife... # | 0:41:32 | 0:41:35 | |
'The day that they walked in, Ben had said, you know, | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
'so many times I think people kind of, | 0:41:40 | 0:41:42 | |
'they don't like who they see in the mirror, you know, | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
'and sometimes it's just like, "I need somebody to save me from myself." ' | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
And I meet a lot of people who their worst enemies is themselves. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:51 | |
The person that they see in the mirror every day that they go, | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
"I don't like that person." | 0:41:54 | 0:41:56 | |
'And so I was like, man, this is a song we need to write.' | 0:41:56 | 0:41:58 | |
# You're the reason I'm singing | 0:41:58 | 0:42:05 | |
# You're the beat of my soul... # | 0:42:05 | 0:42:10 | |
'To create a duo that has that magic, that has that chemistry, | 0:42:11 | 0:42:16 | |
'it has to have a vocal chemistry, a songwriting chemistry, | 0:42:16 | 0:42:22 | |
'their ranges have to overlap' | 0:42:22 | 0:42:24 | |
in this perfect way and they've got all of | 0:42:24 | 0:42:27 | |
those ingredients and I think, you know, personality wise, | 0:42:27 | 0:42:31 | |
obviously they get along well and that is... | 0:42:31 | 0:42:33 | |
The road will wear you down if you don't get along well, | 0:42:33 | 0:42:36 | |
you're going to find that out really quickly. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:38 | |
So, this next song, actually, | 0:42:41 | 0:42:43 | |
was a song that I wrote with three other people who happen to be in this room right now. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:48 | |
Two of them are on stage with me, and Libby, | 0:42:48 | 0:42:52 | |
sitting over there on that table there. | 0:42:52 | 0:42:55 | |
It's a song that we wrote about our dads and their positive influence on our lives. | 0:42:55 | 0:43:00 | |
In the time that we wrote this song, | 0:43:00 | 0:43:03 | |
I didn't actually tell anybody in | 0:43:03 | 0:43:05 | |
the room that my dad actually had passed away 20 years ago. | 0:43:05 | 0:43:09 | |
So I was kind of, it was difficult for me to sit in | 0:43:09 | 0:43:12 | |
that room and try and get some feelings out. | 0:43:12 | 0:43:15 | |
It's a very personal song, it's called Daddy's Little Girl. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:18 | |
# The smell of Old Spice | 0:43:20 | 0:43:23 | |
# Flat cap on the dash | 0:43:23 | 0:43:26 | |
# Windows rolled down in the wind | 0:43:26 | 0:43:29 | |
# White lines flying past | 0:43:29 | 0:43:31 | |
# Singing along with the radio | 0:43:31 | 0:43:35 | |
# A little latitude | 0:43:35 | 0:43:38 | |
# Hanging on to that steering wheel | 0:43:38 | 0:43:42 | |
# Was the man who hung the moon | 0:43:42 | 0:43:45 | |
# He said, "You can be anything you want to in this great big world" | 0:43:45 | 0:43:52 | |
# But I'm always gonna be | 0:43:52 | 0:43:57 | |
# Daddy's little girl... # | 0:43:57 | 0:44:00 | |
For most songwriters who would move | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
to Nashville or spend some time there, | 0:44:06 | 0:44:08 | |
playing the Bluebird, that really is the pinnacle, you can say, | 0:44:08 | 0:44:12 | |
"I played the Bluebird." It was brilliant, I loved it. | 0:44:12 | 0:44:14 | |
Absolutely awesome. Really, really great. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:16 | |
It was great. | 0:44:16 | 0:44:17 | |
So, we've just done a quick change, | 0:44:20 | 0:44:21 | |
ready to go to the Big Machine afterparty at the CMAs. | 0:44:21 | 0:44:25 | |
You've got the dream situation where | 0:44:41 | 0:44:43 | |
Scott and Big Machine are championing | 0:44:43 | 0:44:46 | |
the band. No act has ever done it, | 0:44:46 | 0:44:48 | |
it's the chance of a lifetime for them, it really is. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
They know they could fall at the first hurdle and nothing | 0:44:51 | 0:44:54 | |
could happen, but they also know that the carrot is big enough, | 0:44:54 | 0:44:59 | |
and, ultimately, in a weird kind of way, | 0:44:59 | 0:45:00 | |
they will make history because no-one has ever done it before. | 0:45:00 | 0:45:03 | |
Hey. Welcome. | 0:45:04 | 0:45:06 | |
You're here. | 0:45:06 | 0:45:07 | |
-Yes. -Hey, buddy. Bring it in. | 0:45:07 | 0:45:10 | |
-Wow. -Welcome to headquarters. | 0:45:10 | 0:45:13 | |
-So cool. -Well, congratulations. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:16 | |
So proud of both of you. | 0:45:16 | 0:45:18 | |
Because I meet so many artists and I can tell from our first meeting that | 0:45:18 | 0:45:22 | |
both of you are willing to really listen, | 0:45:22 | 0:45:25 | |
but also take that advice and put it through your own filter. | 0:45:25 | 0:45:29 | |
When we sign an artist, it's a gut feeling for me. | 0:45:29 | 0:45:32 | |
And I'm either immediately interested or not. | 0:45:32 | 0:45:36 | |
If it wasn't true to who they are, and what their musical vision is, | 0:45:36 | 0:45:42 | |
I think I would have seen right through that | 0:45:42 | 0:45:44 | |
'and I wouldn't have been interested.' | 0:45:44 | 0:45:46 | |
Let me show you something. | 0:45:46 | 0:45:47 | |
So this is for Florida Georgia Line's Cruise, | 0:45:49 | 0:45:52 | |
which is the biggest selling single in the history of country music. | 0:45:52 | 0:45:55 | |
This is a diamond award for 10 million sold. | 0:45:55 | 0:45:57 | |
-Wow. -Wow. -That's amazing. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:01 | |
But I wanted to show you the Big Machine wall. | 0:46:03 | 0:46:06 | |
-Sounds good. -The wall of fame, I'm very proud. | 0:46:06 | 0:46:09 | |
Such a great pose. | 0:46:11 | 0:46:13 | |
So cool. Florida Georgia Line, Greg White, Thomas Rhett. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:16 | |
Allow me to show you something here. Come on. | 0:46:16 | 0:46:18 | |
So I was thinking when I came in this morning this would be the perfect place to put your picture. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:25 | |
BOTH LAUGH | 0:46:25 | 0:46:27 | |
-Wow. -That would be cool. | 0:46:27 | 0:46:29 | |
-That work for you? -That's good, yes, a really nice height, as well. | 0:46:29 | 0:46:32 | |
Stand there for a second, we'll just kind of frame it. | 0:46:32 | 0:46:35 | |
Is this your side, you go that side. | 0:46:35 | 0:46:37 | |
There it is. | 0:46:38 | 0:46:40 | |
Done. That'll work. | 0:46:41 | 0:46:43 | |
-Awesome. -Welcome to the family. | 0:46:44 | 0:46:47 | |
# Cos when you're fifteen | 0:46:47 | 0:46:50 | |
# And somebody tells you they love you | 0:46:50 | 0:46:54 | |
# You're gonna believe them... # | 0:46:54 | 0:46:58 | |
Since Taylor's career took off like a rocket, | 0:46:58 | 0:47:01 | |
Scott Borchetta has made very smart decisions in signing acts that are | 0:47:01 | 0:47:05 | |
different but also very commercial. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
And that definitely turned off a lot of country purists, but, hey, | 0:47:08 | 0:47:12 | |
it turned on millions of people. | 0:47:12 | 0:47:14 | |
# Fifteen... # | 0:47:15 | 0:47:16 | |
We've come through a time recently that has felt restrictive. | 0:47:18 | 0:47:22 | |
And the fact that Scott Borchetta is looking to challenge that is great, | 0:47:22 | 0:47:26 | |
because I think there's a lot of things about country music that need | 0:47:26 | 0:47:30 | |
to broaden. | 0:47:30 | 0:47:32 | |
# That don't impress me much... # | 0:47:33 | 0:47:35 | |
In the '90s, it was all women. | 0:47:37 | 0:47:39 | |
It was Jo Dee Messina, Shania Twain, | 0:47:39 | 0:47:41 | |
Lee Ann Womack , Dixie Chicks, it was very, very female driven. | 0:47:41 | 0:47:44 | |
But then it went to male. | 0:47:44 | 0:47:47 | |
There was a massive shift into testosterone driven music on country radio. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:52 | |
And that happened around 9/11. | 0:47:52 | 0:47:55 | |
# Your little hot self over here | 0:47:55 | 0:47:57 | |
# Girl, hand me another beer... # | 0:47:57 | 0:48:00 | |
It became very much beer drinking on the tailgate. | 0:48:00 | 0:48:04 | |
And a girl is only a girl, it's never a woman. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:08 | |
# Drinking that ice-cold beer | 0:48:08 | 0:48:11 | |
# Talkin' about girls, talkin' about trucks | 0:48:11 | 0:48:14 | |
# Running them red dirt roads... # | 0:48:14 | 0:48:18 | |
The images of women that are | 0:48:18 | 0:48:19 | |
presented in some of these bro country songs | 0:48:19 | 0:48:22 | |
is just, they're ridiculous. | 0:48:22 | 0:48:24 | |
# Yeah, when I first saw that bikini top on her | 0:48:24 | 0:48:28 | |
# She's poppin' right out of the South Georgia water | 0:48:28 | 0:48:31 | |
# Thought, "Oh, good lord" She had them long tanned legs | 0:48:31 | 0:48:35 | |
# Couldn't help myself so I walked up and said... # | 0:48:35 | 0:48:38 | |
The duo Maddie & Tae did a great song called Girl In A Country Song, | 0:48:38 | 0:48:42 | |
where they criticise bro country and | 0:48:42 | 0:48:44 | |
said, "Hey, I'm not going to climb in that truck, | 0:48:44 | 0:48:46 | |
"I'm not going to be that girl in your painted-on jeans." | 0:48:46 | 0:48:49 | |
And I think that critique is very valid. | 0:48:49 | 0:48:51 | |
# I hear you over there on your tailgate whistling | 0:48:51 | 0:48:54 | |
# Saying, "Hey, girl" | 0:48:56 | 0:48:58 | |
# But you know I ain't listening | 0:48:58 | 0:49:01 | |
# Cos I got a name | 0:49:03 | 0:49:04 | |
# And to you it ain't "pretty little thing", "hottie" or "baby"... # | 0:49:04 | 0:49:08 | |
'It came about just after listening to country radio for about a | 0:49:08 | 0:49:11 | |
'three-month period and kind of getting irritated with how' | 0:49:11 | 0:49:13 | |
women were being looked at. | 0:49:13 | 0:49:15 | |
I mean, we were just being called a piece of meat, basically, | 0:49:15 | 0:49:18 | |
with no character and no value, and that was irritating to us. | 0:49:18 | 0:49:21 | |
Being raised by strong, independent women, we were like, that's not going to fly. | 0:49:21 | 0:49:25 | |
# Being the girl in a country song | 0:49:25 | 0:49:28 | |
# How in the world did it go so wrong? | 0:49:28 | 0:49:30 | |
# Like all we're good for | 0:49:30 | 0:49:32 | |
# Is looking good for you and your friends on the weekend... # | 0:49:32 | 0:49:36 | |
I think it's amazing that we are finally back at the point where | 0:49:36 | 0:49:39 | |
females can come in and conquer country music again. | 0:49:39 | 0:49:42 | |
Because it's been 20 years, I feel like, | 0:49:42 | 0:49:45 | |
since there's been multiple females that were having success. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:47 | |
I think that country music demands reform, | 0:49:49 | 0:49:53 | |
the genre in and of itself is requiring that to happen. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:57 | |
And that's not just bro country, | 0:49:57 | 0:50:00 | |
that's not just because there are shitty lyrics written by | 0:50:00 | 0:50:02 | |
nine different people in a think tank somewhere. | 0:50:02 | 0:50:05 | |
It's because the spirit of it has been completely lost, | 0:50:05 | 0:50:11 | |
it has just been completely lost and | 0:50:11 | 0:50:13 | |
the greed of labels and... | 0:50:13 | 0:50:17 | |
It's just always a money thing. | 0:50:17 | 0:50:19 | |
# Well, I saw from the way she looked at you | 0:50:19 | 0:50:25 | |
# Back when you were mine | 0:50:26 | 0:50:31 | |
# I recall I'd seen that look before too | 0:50:33 | 0:50:38 | |
# Should have taken it then... # | 0:50:38 | 0:50:43 | |
There's a whole new generation of women in country who are looking to | 0:50:45 | 0:50:49 | |
the classic female country voices, | 0:50:49 | 0:50:51 | |
like Dolly Parton or Loretta Lynn to guide them in the way they speak | 0:50:51 | 0:50:55 | |
about women's experience. | 0:50:55 | 0:50:57 | |
# Everything's all wrong | 0:50:57 | 0:51:01 | |
# I'm coming undone since I... # | 0:51:01 | 0:51:06 | |
'I would refer to myself as an outlaw country artist' | 0:51:06 | 0:51:08 | |
because I completely operate on my own terms. | 0:51:08 | 0:51:13 | |
# The way she looked at you... # | 0:51:13 | 0:51:16 | |
In my view, punk music and country music are married because they stand | 0:51:19 | 0:51:24 | |
for exactly the same thing. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:26 | |
Which is being honest no matter how brutal that honesty is, | 0:51:26 | 0:51:30 | |
and being angry about injustice. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:33 | |
Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, | 0:51:33 | 0:51:36 | |
like, I'm going to wear black until I see social justice reform, | 0:51:36 | 0:51:40 | |
that's punk, you know, it's country, but that is punk as fuck. | 0:51:40 | 0:51:43 | |
I can remember a very specific moment in 1998 when I was | 0:51:46 | 0:51:50 | |
with Randy Travis. | 0:51:50 | 0:51:51 | |
There was this huge sign of Shania Twain. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:54 | |
And he goes, | 0:51:55 | 0:51:58 | |
"Man, it's really gotten away from being country." | 0:51:58 | 0:52:01 | |
And I said, "Well, Randy, you have to remember you don't decide that." | 0:52:01 | 0:52:06 | |
I said, "The fans decide what they're going to listen to. | 0:52:06 | 0:52:09 | |
"And if that's what is being played on country radio, and they like it, | 0:52:09 | 0:52:12 | |
"it is country whether you like it or not." | 0:52:12 | 0:52:14 | |
The trip to Nashville, I mean, it couldn't have gone any better, really. | 0:52:36 | 0:52:39 | |
Meeting Scott. I mean, we were quite nervous about meeting Scott, | 0:52:39 | 0:52:42 | |
actually, but he's just, he just gets it, | 0:52:42 | 0:52:44 | |
he seems to get what it's like to be an artist. | 0:52:44 | 0:52:46 | |
They didn't want to change us massively, | 0:52:50 | 0:52:52 | |
and Allison said that, she said, | 0:52:52 | 0:52:54 | |
we want to keep what's great about you guys, | 0:52:54 | 0:52:56 | |
we just need to find a way to make that work in the US. | 0:52:56 | 0:53:00 | |
I mean, this is beautiful. I've just picked this up, | 0:53:00 | 0:53:03 | |
I think Vicky would kill me if I buy | 0:53:03 | 0:53:04 | |
this guitar, cos it's quite expensive. | 0:53:04 | 0:53:06 | |
The work starts again, | 0:53:08 | 0:53:11 | |
redoing exactly what we've done over here but over there. | 0:53:11 | 0:53:14 | |
If the Shires can spend enough time here, | 0:53:16 | 0:53:19 | |
I think they have a huge opportunity to be a significant recording duo | 0:53:19 | 0:53:24 | |
over the next several years, I really do. | 0:53:24 | 0:53:26 | |
They are putting themselves in a big machine. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:29 | |
Which, I mean, you have to play the game, | 0:53:29 | 0:53:32 | |
the stakes are high and you've got to go for it. | 0:53:32 | 0:53:34 | |
And if you can work through a platform that has that kind of power, | 0:53:34 | 0:53:39 | |
then it can take you to great places. | 0:53:39 | 0:53:42 | |
It's not guaranteed, it's not even going to be easy. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:47 | |
The good thing is, I've gotten to know The Shires over the past year or two, | 0:53:47 | 0:53:52 | |
which is why the success doesn't surprise me. | 0:53:52 | 0:53:55 | |
It's because they're not afraid to work. | 0:53:55 | 0:53:57 | |
# I've been foolish and... # | 0:53:57 | 0:53:59 | |
They show up. | 0:53:59 | 0:54:01 | |
Is it guaranteed? No. | 0:54:02 | 0:54:04 | |
# ..feel my heart breaking... # | 0:54:04 | 0:54:06 | |
It's so competitive and there are people getting off the bus every day | 0:54:08 | 0:54:12 | |
from every little town, coming in, going, | 0:54:12 | 0:54:14 | |
"I think I could be the next big thing." | 0:54:14 | 0:54:17 | |
# Hallelujah... # | 0:54:17 | 0:54:19 | |
You can't deny their talent, | 0:54:19 | 0:54:20 | |
and it has been fun to see Nashville kind of go, "Oh, this is really, | 0:54:20 | 0:54:24 | |
"really good. And where are they from? | 0:54:24 | 0:54:28 | |
"Did they come here from out west or did they come down from New York?" | 0:54:28 | 0:54:33 | |
"No, they came from the UK." "Oh." | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
# Hallelujah | 0:54:35 | 0:54:38 | |
# The moment I saw you, my love. # | 0:54:38 | 0:54:41 | |
Thank you very much. | 0:54:44 | 0:54:46 | |
'We are at the end of our week in Nashville. | 0:54:47 | 0:54:50 | |
'And it's been amazing. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:51 | |
'We are on an absolute high.' | 0:54:51 | 0:54:53 | |
We know we've got a long way to go, a lot of work to do, | 0:54:53 | 0:54:55 | |
but it feels great. | 0:54:55 | 0:54:57 | |
It feels really good, doesn't it? | 0:54:57 | 0:55:00 | |
We just want to get going, want to get the songs and get going. | 0:55:00 | 0:55:03 | |
And if we can break here, then that will be | 0:55:03 | 0:55:06 | |
everything we've ever wanted, really. | 0:55:06 | 0:55:08 | |
-I can hear now. -Can you hear me in there at all? -I can hear you now. | 0:55:24 | 0:55:26 | |
OK, cool. | 0:55:26 | 0:55:28 | |
INDISTINCT QUESTION | 0:55:28 | 0:55:30 | |
What's that? | 0:55:30 | 0:55:31 | |
'We got back from Nashville about five weeks ago.' | 0:55:31 | 0:55:34 | |
And then we did some rehearsals, | 0:55:34 | 0:55:35 | |
and then we just went straight out on tour. It was really quick, and we did 18 shows, this is the last one, | 0:55:35 | 0:55:40 | |
the 19th show, in London, and it's been a whirlwind, | 0:55:40 | 0:55:43 | |
the last six or eight weeks has been crazy. | 0:55:43 | 0:55:45 | |
It's really cool to be finishing up here in London. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:48 | |
They are absolutely amazing. | 0:55:48 | 0:55:51 | |
We love the Shires. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:52 | |
They're just different, aren't they? | 0:55:52 | 0:55:54 | |
It's kind of a new generation of people that like country music. | 0:55:54 | 0:55:57 | |
They are British country. | 0:55:57 | 0:55:59 | |
-They fly the British flag. -They've kind of brought it into the modern world and made it really cool. | 0:55:59 | 0:56:03 | |
# Hallelujah | 0:56:03 | 0:56:05 | |
# Hallelujah. # | 0:56:05 | 0:56:07 | |
You have to go, Hallelujah | 0:56:07 | 0:56:09 | |
# Hallelujah | 0:56:09 | 0:56:11 | |
# Hallelujah... # | 0:56:11 | 0:56:13 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:56:13 | 0:56:14 | |
# Hallelujah | 0:56:17 | 0:56:19 | |
# Hallelujah... # | 0:56:19 | 0:56:21 | |
The tour has been a whole lot of fun, but it's tiring. | 0:56:21 | 0:56:25 | |
SHE DOES A VOCAL WARM UP | 0:56:25 | 0:56:28 | |
You're on the road all the time and when we're doing three, | 0:56:28 | 0:56:31 | |
four shows in a row, we've been doing promo in the daytime as well. | 0:56:31 | 0:56:36 | |
My voice has been very tired. | 0:56:36 | 0:56:37 | |
This new set that we've got has been extremely demanding on my voice. | 0:56:37 | 0:56:42 | |
You know, people always kind of forget that the voice is what it's | 0:56:42 | 0:56:47 | |
all about, and all I keep hearing, especially on this tour, | 0:56:47 | 0:56:50 | |
is that it's not just about the voice. | 0:56:50 | 0:56:52 | |
That's always hard for me to take because actually everything I do is about my voice. | 0:56:52 | 0:56:57 | |
I think Crissie was struggling a tiny bit with her voice. | 0:56:59 | 0:57:02 | |
It's been really busy with Nashville and doing this. | 0:57:02 | 0:57:05 | |
It takes it out of you and there are moments, especially before you go | 0:57:05 | 0:57:09 | |
on, you have a bit of a lull. | 0:57:09 | 0:57:10 | |
And the adrenaline just kinds of kicks in and carries you through. | 0:57:10 | 0:57:13 | |
London! | 0:57:13 | 0:57:14 | |
How are we all doing? | 0:57:19 | 0:57:20 | |
'The moment we stepped out onto the stage at Shepherd's Bush, I mean,' | 0:57:20 | 0:57:24 | |
I don't know about you, but my heart was racing like crazy. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:28 | |
# Country boys | 0:57:28 | 0:57:30 | |
# In the dark | 0:57:30 | 0:57:32 | |
# We can build our own Nashville... # | 0:57:36 | 0:57:39 | |
This year has been a lot about, it's going to sound really weird, | 0:57:41 | 0:57:43 | |
but coming to terms with success almost. | 0:57:43 | 0:57:46 | |
# People will come from far and wide... # | 0:57:46 | 0:57:51 | |
Most people associate having more money than you are used to having | 0:57:51 | 0:57:55 | |
and bestselling UK country album of all time, that's it, | 0:57:55 | 0:57:58 | |
you've achieved everything. | 0:57:58 | 0:57:59 | |
But then it's kind of like sort of remembering why we do what we do, | 0:57:59 | 0:58:03 | |
and why I do what I do. | 0:58:03 | 0:58:05 | |
I write songs because I love writing songs. | 0:58:05 | 0:58:08 | |
It really defines me as a person. | 0:58:08 | 0:58:10 | |
Thank you so much, London, thank you. | 0:58:15 | 0:58:18 | |
Just to be signed in the first place was an amazing achievement for us, | 0:58:27 | 0:58:31 | |
and now to be able to take our music further afield is an exciting | 0:58:31 | 0:58:35 | |
-challenge for us. -We are experiencing a lot of different things and playing | 0:58:35 | 0:58:39 | |
huge shows and stuff, and that's going to come across in our music, | 0:58:39 | 0:58:42 | |
so it will definitely evolve and change and, you know... | 0:58:42 | 0:58:46 | |
I love that they're going to replay this in like three years when I'm | 0:58:46 | 0:58:49 | |
going, | 0:58:49 | 0:58:50 | |
# Sitting on my truck, drinking my beer in my blue jeans. # | 0:58:50 | 0:58:54 | |
I'm not going to change. | 0:58:54 | 0:58:56 | |
# Cos I'm made in England | 0:59:00 | 0:59:02 | |
# And I'm proud to be | 0:59:02 | 0:59:05 | |
# From this little island | 0:59:05 | 0:59:08 | |
# It's more than home to me | 0:59:08 | 0:59:11 | |
# Yes I'm made in England | 0:59:11 | 0:59:15 | |
# Nowhere I'd rather be | 0:59:15 | 0:59:18 | |
# Rainy days and milk in my tea | 0:59:19 | 0:59:23 | |
# It's good enough for me. # | 0:59:23 | 0:59:26 |