Shovels and Rope

Selfishly, I kind of want to keep this band a secret. They are some of Charleston’s finest. Actually, scratch that. Forget Charleston. They are some of the finest, period. During the two years I lived there, they played a show every Monday night on the outdoor deck of one of the better venues in town. But unless one were a really devout True Blood fan, people didn’t really seem to notice them. I’d go with a small group of friends every week and, if the weather was juuuusst right and there was nothing going on downtown, there might be 10 or so other bodies there. It felt like they were just playing for us. Our little secret.

But it’s hard to keep them a secret now that they just finished touring with The Felice Brothers (!) and are about to go on tour with Justin Townes Earle (!!). Someday soon they’ll stop supporting the headliners and they’ll head out with their own supporting acts. And, when that happens, you better believe I’ll be that girl telling anyone who will listen that I was there back in the day when they’d play for free on a stage the size of a large dinner table to a crowd smaller (and less rowdy) than a Landon family Christmas.

They are Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, a husband and wife who go by “Shovels and Rope” when touring. They sound so amazing together that it’s hard to decide the real reason fate brought them together. I’d like to say it was the love, I really would. But I fall a little too far towards the cynical end of the romantic spectrum. So I’m going to say it was all for the music. You decide for yourself.

And because 1 just isn't enough...