The Shires Commemorate Journey On New Album ’10 Year Plan’

The Shires. Photo: JBK Photography

The Shires, the UK country duo comprised of Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle, have released their new album, 10 Year Plan.

The 13-track project, produced by Lindsay Rimes, reminisces about the duo’s big city hopes and dreams when their career was just starting in 2012. Opening with“Cut Me Loose,” the Shires bring their harmonies together on tracks such as “Sparks Fly” and “A Bar Without You,” as well as on the closing, pedal steel guitar-tinged “When It Hurts.” Writers contributing to the project include Eric Paslay, Justin Ebach, and Lizzy McAvoy.

“We are so excited to finally have our new album 10 Year Plan out,” The Shires share. “We celebrate 10 years together as duo next year, and this album looks back at every point on that journey–all the milestones we have had. Our hope is that this album can be the soundtrack to uplift spirits and enable us all to create new happy memories. We hope you enjoy it.”

The Shires’ achievements were recently celebrated when they were presented with the CMA’s Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award for furthering the popularity of country music throughout the UK.

The duo’s 2015 debut album, Brave, became the first-ever Top 10 album by a UK country music duo. In the years since, they have achieved three consecutive UK Top 3 albums, four No. 1 UK country albums, over 100 million streams, two Gold certified records, and played countless sold-out headlining shows.

10 Year Plan Track List:
“Cut Me Loose” (Justin Ebach, Lizzy McAvoy)
“Sparks Fly” (Ben Earle)
“Side By Side” (Ben Earle, Katya Edwards)
“Plot Twist” (Ben Earle, Beth McCarthy)
“10 Year Plan” (Ben Earle, Sarah Sheldrake)
“I See Stars” (Ben Earle, Jeff Cohen)
“A Bar Without You” (Ben Earle, Eric Paslay, Jennifer Wayne)
“Baby We’re Rich” (Ben Earle, Lindsay Rimes)
“Skydive” (Ben Earle)
“Wild Hearts” (Ben Earle)
“Forever Tonight” (Ben Earle, Sarah Sheldrake)
“Peggy I’m Sorry” (Ben Earle)
“When It Hurts” (Ben Earle)