Shovels and Rope
Saturday, July 27, 2013
“If there are two people at Newport Folk capable of dumbfounding a crowd with little more than the resonant strains of a husky, bitter harmony—or inciting a riot to the tune of a frenzied chorus at Fort Adams—it’s Shovels & Rope. O’ Be Joyful, the latest effort from South Carolinian duo Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, was pieced together as they trekked from the Deep South to Puget Sound across the Great Plains and up to snowy New England in their band van in 2011, lugging the drum kit they saved from a pile of garbage with them to festival stages and intimate rooms along the way. During any given Shovels & Rope performance, it’s hard to tell when their lyrics will cut you to the core or coddle you with their sentimentality, and its this daily, filter-free battle between hard and soft that makes them such an enthralling act to behold in a live setting.
NPR, Paste, LA Weekly, Filter, NYLON and American Songwriter have fallen all over themselves with praise for O’ Be Joyful and the reckless genius behind it. Though the accolades put forth by these fine outlets can be echoed with ease, it’s hard to believe anything but the best has yet to come for Shovels & Rope, and that their moment at Fort Adams may be the stuff of Newport Folk legend in 2013.”
– Hilary Hughes
contributing writer at The Village Voice, Paste, Interview, BUST and Blackbook
@hilmonstah
www.shovelsandrope.com
Artists and schedule are subject to change.
