This story is featured in CityBeat’s March 6 print edition.
Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, the husband-and-wife duo behind Shovels & Rope, possess voices primed with grit and grace, their intermingling vocals occasionally bursting forth with enough yearning and emotion to make Joe Cocker blush. The South Carolina-based duo delivers rootsy tunes that nod toward specific genre traditions while not hesitating to go down their own idiosyncratic rabbit hole.
“It’s a catch-all for anything that’s remotely connected to traditional American musical idioms,” Hearst said in a 2019 interview with PopMatters when asked about the tendency for listeners to label what they do as “Americana.” “Our music doesn’t sound like Woody Guthrie, but we love him. Our lyrics don’t sound like something John Prine would have written, but that’s my No. 1 person that I would rip off. For the most part, Americana radio doesn’t care (about the differences). Within the audience, there are purists, but we like folk music that’s deconstructed and weird.”
The duo’s 2008 self-titled debut was initially a one-off effort — they started as solo performers — yet here we are 16 years later, multiple albums and consistently rousing live shows surfacing in their creative wake. Each new collection of songs explores a different corner of their core sound, often moving in unexpected directions. Take “Domino,” the opening track from Shovels & Rope’s most recent record, 2022’s Manticore — it’s a stirring take on the duo’s ever-evolving approach, employing piano, hand-claps and a sleek double-vocal delivery that brings to mind a roots-fueled version of LCD Soundsystem.
Word is that another full-length album is likely to emerge by the end of this year. Until then we have the recently dropped “Gotta Get Out of Here,” a haunting, slow-burning cover from Drivin N Cryin frontman Kevin Kinney’s influential 1990 solo debut, MacDougal Blues. The duo’s interweaving vocals take on the song’s scene-setting lyrics with a palpable exhaustion: “Weekdays, I get up and go to work/Come on home when I punch that clock/It’s like pushing a channel changer.” Expect Shovels & Rope to tackle “Gotta Get Out of Here” during their current live tour, another inspired creative choice in an existence full of them.
Shovels & Rope play Southgate House Revival on March 22 at 8 p.m. Info: southgatehouse.com.
This article appears in Feb 21 – Mar 5, 2024.
