Shovels & Rope new LP is a brilliant culmination of commitment to the road and the band’s craft
Shovels & Rope album cover
By Ray Chelstowski
I saw Shovels & Rope open a show a few years back and was blown away. A two-person act, they completely filled the room with a sound largely laced with creamy harmonies that swayed above a gritty, roots-driven bottom. The performance was unforgettable and it’s through appearances like that that this husband and wife duo has steadily built their following. Over the last decade they have opened up for scores of big name acts and in front of those large crowds they’ve established a fan base that is devout and entirely focused on their music and musicianship.
Cary Ann Heart and Michael Trent are about to return with a new record that not only is among their best; there’s not a lot that’s new out there that can top it. The sound is fresh, full-bodied, and focused.
Maybe it’s because they hail from Charleston, South Carolina, or that their live shows are more like revivals, that they’ve been boxed into the “Americana” bucket. But as you’ll find with Something Is Working Up Above My Head their sound is difficult to pin down. After four back to back spins, it’s fair and safe to align what you’ll discover here as something akin to the 2005 Ryan Adams release, Cold Roses. Like that the music here has an inherent soulfulness, and even at its most raucous moments seems to possess a vulnerability that is palpable. Maybe that’s because the subject matter of these songs is so dark and often disturbing. The characters presented in these ten tales have seen the worst that life can hand you. Their frustrations fittingly reside within songs that are largely more rock oriented than anything Shovels & Rope have done before, with arrangements that are confident and firm.
Hands down, the biggest keeper in the 10-song tracking is “Love Song From a Dog.” One of the first nights of the Gregory Alan Isakov tour, they decided onstage, mid-set, to try it out and it “kind of killed.”
"People honestly wouldn’t shut up about it. It became a fan favorite moment of our set each night and honestly in all the years of doing this we’ve never had so many people send us messages or reach out about any one specific song as they did this one. It just goes to show us that we don’t know anything. When it came time to record it, we thought it’d be fitting and a nice touch to have Greg sing on it since it was his audience who basically fostered it into being by giving us the confidence and encouragement we needed to see it the way they did. He generously obliged and the song was instantly elevated by the sincerity and richness of mood that colors his voice,” says Hearst.
It’s clear why the song so quickly connected to their audience, and a reflection of how the tried and true approach of honing your act on the road not only helps ensure your longevity, but improves the quality of your material in ways that are often difficult to explain.
Something Is Working Up Above My Head is the brilliant culmination of a commitment to the road and this band’s craft. What this will do to their streaming algorithm is impossible to know, but where it suggests they are headed creatively is exciting indeed!
Shovels & Rope Tour Dates
Sep 11 Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Theatre
Sep 13 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sep 14 Fort Hill, PA Deer Valley Folk Festival
Sep 15 Ardmore, PA The Ardmore Music Hall
Sep 17 Portsmouth, NH 3S Artspace
Sep 18 The Sinclair Cambridge, MA
Sep 20 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
Sep 21 Ferndale, MI The Magic Bag
Sep 22 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
Sep 24 Saint Paul, MN Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Sep 25 Des Moines, IA Wooly's
Sep 27 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room Lounge
Sep 28 Maquoketa, IA Codfish Hollow Barnstormers
Sep 29 Bloomington, IL Castle Theatre
Oct 1 Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall
Oct 2 Knoxville, TN Bijou Theatre
Oct 3 Charleston, SC Music Farm
Oct 4 Charleston, SC Music Farm
Dec 4 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
Dec 5 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
Dec 6 Los Angeles, CA Teragram Ballroom
Dec 7 Menlo Park, CA The Guild Theatre
Dec 9 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
Dec 10 Seattle, WA Neumos
Dec 12 Salt Lake City, UT The Commonwealth Room
Dec 13 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
Dec 14 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen
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