Cary-Anne Hearst and Michael Trent have been performing together as Shovels & Ropes since 2008, but becoming a musical powerhouse as a couple wasn’t their original plan. Rather, they each pursued their own music careers before and after getting married in 2009, but in 2012 they decided to commit fully to a musical partnership.
Shovel and rope rolled up their sleeves, “It’s getting greasy.”
“It wasn't planned at all. We were both working on our own careers for probably 10 years before we got married. And once we got married, I started working in bars in the city and… We started making a little money. It was easy and fun. And since there were two of us, we did twice as many songs,” Trent said.
“It also made sense that if we didn’t want to be a family and get married and be in different cities all the time, it would be more traditional in many ways to just be in a band together,” Hirst said. added. “So we had things that were strangling our egos, so we buried them in our backyard. And here we are, with an incredibly supportive career and family life. Just getting on with it.”
Anthony Skanga
/
iowa public radio
Shovels & Ropes is truly a family affair, with Hearst and Trent’s children also joining the tour.
The joint venture worked out well for them, as they released 10 albums, appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, and toured extensively. However, one thing that makes Shovels & Rope’s tour a little different than your average band is that they have two children with them.
Trent and Hearst said they treat the tour like a vacation. They spend their days visiting places like the Bronx Zoo and the Smithsonian Institution, and in the evenings a nanny watches over them while mom and dad perform. This is a normal part of the family and the children have grown up doing it.
“The kids are the most important… They’ve both grown up on a tour bus since they were 3 months old. They’re 9 and 5 years old now. And you know, we’ve grown up on tour buses since they were 3 months old. We prioritize happiness, health and safety,” Trent said.
Shovels & Rope are currently touring in support of their latest album, Something Is Working Up Above My Head. Hearst credits some of the record’s dark themes, often referred to as a “Southern Gothic” vibe, to Trent’s songwriting, but much of the record is set in the early days rather than the throes of the coronavirus pandemic in 2022. It’s reminiscent of the livelier sound of the album. Manticore.
Hearst says his favorite songs to perform live on the new album are “Colorado River,” which has a spooky story, and a spiritual song that incorporates the teachings of Ram Dass and has an “old-school Kentucky style.” “Das Hymn,” he said.
Trent and Hirst work on the songs separately, a process that can take months and even years.
“We write separately, and then it’s time to start talking about making something new, and we show each other piles. And some of them are more or less finished songs. Some of them are Some of them are half-finished. Some of them just need a little encouragement from the other person,” Trent said.
Anthony Skanga
/
iowa public radio
Hearst and Trent first worked on songs separately and then together. Hearst credits Trent for many of the new album’s dark themes.
Three of Shovels & Rope’s 10 albums are covers, and in a series they call Busted Jukebox, they collaborate with artists such as Brandi Carlile, Sharon Van Etten, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Featured. The goal of these collaborative covers is to offer something completely unexpected, recording a particular song by featuring singers who would never have imagined covering it.
When asked which artist she would like to work with next, Hirst immediately knew the answer.
“I want Rufus Wainwright to sing with me, and I want to sing the birthday song with that guy (…) I want Nick Cave to come and sing, but… I never ask. And Elvis Costello,” she said.
One of the collaborations the duo recently pulled off is High Water Festival, a music festival founded in their home base of Charleston in 2017. After Live Nation got involved and High Water appeared to be losing its act, they ended their partnership with the event. Local charm.
“Let’s spill the tea!” Hearst encouraged.
“We pulled out of High Water Festival. When we started it with the manager (…) it was a little bit smaller. (…) We had a little more say in terms of that culture. And we’re always proud of that lineup every year, because they were a great lineup,” Trent explained.
“They hired us to bring cool bands that we liked into the scene, right?” Hearst continued.
“In the last couple of years, we got acquired by Live Nation, which, just to be clear, we didn’t own it. And you know, the way the festival music business is right now for everybody. It’s a tough situation. But you know, Live Nation has a lot of VIP packages and things like that,” Trent said.
“We had weird ticket pricing that made the customer experience fluctuate and it didn’t feel right with our brand. It wasn’t a mom-and-pop vibe, so we didn’t feel like we needed to continue to be a part of it. “I’m sure it’s still going to be great, but we’ll be somewhere else,” Hurst said.
Anthony Skanga
/
iowa public radio
Trent and Hearst acknowledge that their brand of Americana music may not appease Americana purists, but they encourage up-and-coming Americana artists to seek influences and connections from outside the genre. I encourage it.
A genre-defying band that incorporates rock and roll into their Southern Gothic, Americana folk sounds, Shovels & Rope believes it’s important for Americana artists not to pigeonhole themselves into a specific genre.
“Some purists are picky if you think too much about whether it’s folky enough or if it’s too loud, but[Americana]is a really good catchall for cowpunk and R&B, blues, folk, etc. , you can find all kinds of conferences, and you can also find markets and pools of people who are actively interested in building that scene,” Hurst said.
“I think it’s a really great place to build community and find artists to collaborate with, but unless you’re a stone-cold purist, it’s not just the Americana world where you build relationships like that.” I think it’s also important to go with your little bad self and banjo.”
