THE Shires, Britain’s biggest-selling country act, will return to York Barbican on May 20 2020.
The announcement coincides with today’s release of New Year, a taster single from their upcoming fourth album, Good Years, a title whose sentiment reflects on the impact of Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes’ two gold-certified albums and three top ten singles.
The Shires will be playing 25 dates, with York as the only Yorkshire destination, having last performed at the Barbican in May 2018.
As with 2015’s Brave, 2016’s My Universe and 2018’s Accidentally On Purpose, Good Years was recorded in the home of country music, Nashville.
Earle and Rhodes describe it as a poignant project after becoming the first British artists to win Best International Act at the CMA Awards.
“We’re so excited to be releasing Good Years, our fourth album recorded in Nashville, and also to announce our next UK tour,” say the duo, who played this July’s Platform Festival in Pocklington. “Honesty and storytelling have always been such an important part of our songwriting. We’ve poured some of the incredible experiences and life we’ve lived into these songs.
“We can’t wait to hit the road next year and play them live across the country. The songs mean so much to us personally, but there really is nothing like looking out at our fans in the crowd and seeing how much of an impact they can have in someone else’s life. It’s truly a very special thing.”
Tickets will go on sale on Friday, November 29 at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk, on 0203 356 5441 or in person from the Barbican box office.
Good Years will be released on March 13 next year. In the meantime, you can listen to New Year at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqUWBPJ83EQ