Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Music has no borders, it has certain areas of influence which can undoubtedly be traced back to a particular area or region. Unlike though the political machinations in which many try to claim a piece of land as their own, to demand that one genre of music only exists to serve the purpose of the people that thrive, live or stagnate because of a certain group or variety is to court absurdity.
The best music may come from the area that it was founded upon, such as for many years true Heavy Metal was arguably at its peak with groups from the Birmingham/Midlands area, the sound of furnaces and machinery contributing to love of the genre for many, but like all art, it grows as it must as more people become enthused and inspired by it. The same must be said of Country music, long since a staple of America and the genius like musicians who brought the frontier to the long distance radios, but it is no longer confined to that region and in The Shires and their debut album Brave, music has quite rightly crossed any borders put in its place.
The Shires, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, do something very different with the genre though, instead of confining, almost imprisoning it within the boundaries of Nashville acceptability, they bring an English resonance to the proceedings. It’s going against the established grain and so called natural order but with every good intention going. Like bringing a bottle of Old Peculiar to a wine party, it might upset the host but at least you are being true to your own tastes and interpretation.
Brave is often an overused word, especially in the modern times where rightly at times as a society we are more attuned to the varying emotions that come forth from seven billion people all needing a voice, but in this case Brave is actually apt, for to take on the established ideals of Nashville with English/British sensibilities on offer throughout this debut album is to admire The Shires even more.
Tracks such as Nashville Grey Skies, Friday Night, the outstanding Jekyll and Hyde and the cool sophistication of Made In England is to understand self imposed boundaries are as dangerous a concept as nationalistic ones. Even the track Made In England, as patriotic as it sounds, has the feel of two songwriters trying to explain to the unexplainable that their views on the subject are just as valid as those who have spilt beer and played their heart out in Tennessee.
Admittedly it will always take something of immense quality to ever shake the foundations laid down by Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton and June Carter, there is always room for any genre to be usurped in its own back yard. The Shires have done a great job in opening yet another crack in a previously unassailable genre.
Ian D. Hall