The Shires are a British country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes.

The duo took the band name to maintain a British identity and take a small part of Britain to the United States.

After playing hardly half a dozen shows together, The Shires caught the attention of Decca Records, who signed them in the United Kingdom, and they secured a contract with American record label Universal Music Group Nashville, thus becoming the first English country act to be signed to a major Nashville label.

Earle and Rhodes were awarded Honorary Doctorates of the Arts by the University of Bedfordshire for their services and contributions to music on 25 July 2019.

Her country music influences include Alison Krauss, Martina McBride and Faith Hill.

[3][4] As part of BBC Radio 2's coverage of a festival, the Shires were included as a segment in a documentary titled "Nashville UK", which assessed country music's standing in the UK and, as one of its promising artists, their determination to export their British country roots to their American counterparts.

[6] The Shires have composed songs with hit Nashville songwriter Steve Mcewan (Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood) and Play Productions an accomplished Swedish writing and production company, who comprise Tim Larsson, Johan Fransson and Tobias Lundgren, who have worked with Rascal Flatts and Celine Dion.

It contains facetious lines such as "Well they say it's way too cold for cut-off jeans and they won't be drinking moonshine but G & T's" and "We can build our own Nashville under these grey skies".

The UK is our home and we are proud of our success so far, thanks to Decca Records, but it's always been a massive goal for us to build our presence and make a name for ourselves in the USA.

[22] On 26 January 2018, The Shires announced their third studio album Accidentally on Purpose would be released on 20 April 2018 alongside a UK tour.

[27] In January 2022, The Shires announced their lead single from their upcoming fifth album, '10 Year Plan' would be titled 'I See Stars'.

The band appeared on the Radio 2 breakfast show with Zoe Ball for the single's debut on 26 January, and followed it with the release date for their new album on March 11, 2022.