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THE SHIRES

MCD.ie presents

THE SHIRES

plus guest

UK country music duo The Shires have announced a show Upstairs at Whelan’s on Sunday 20 July 2014.

Tickets priced €12 inclusive of booking fee are on sale now from Ticketmaster outlets and www.ticketmaster.ie

The groundswell of interest in country music in the UK is now officially unstoppable. But one of the acts helping to make country cooler than ever on this side of the Atlantic aren’t from Tennessee or Texas, they’re from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. They look and sound great, and they’re all set to take their country-influenced music to the world. Step forward, The Shires.

The duo of Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes has swiftly become one of the real buzz bands of 2014. Getting together as recently as May of last year, and with only a handful of live dates under their belt, The Shires have secured the support of a host of industry tastemakers in no time. Decca won the hot contest for their signatures just before they made their official live London debut at the event that confirmed the wave of interest in the country genre, the second annual Country 2 Country Festival at London’s 02 Arena.

24 hours later, they were performing at a prestigious London reception held jointly by BBC Radio 2 (who’ve declared their enthusiastic early support for the duo), and the Country Music Association. The following morning, they were on a plane heading for their first songwriting sessions in Music City USA itself, Nashville. Two days further on, Ben and Crissie were featured in the Radio 2 documentary ‘Nashville UK,’ celebrating the rise and rise of country on these shores.

Now The Shires are ready to gig, and to bring that album home from Nashville. “At the end of the day, all we want to do is write songs and sing them,” says Earle. People will be more than ready to listen, in their country and far beyond.

TICKETS

Tickets on sale now from ticketmaster.ie and wavtickets.ie

€12 available online from WAV Tickets [Lo-Call 1890 200 078] (50c per ticket service charge applies on phone, internet or creditcard bookings)

Strictly over 18′s, I.D. may be required

AFTER THE GIG

Whelan’s Indie DJ in the bar and Sonntags upstairs from 11pm til late, Free Entry.