Shovels & Rope’s “Devil Is All Around” Goes Top 20

SHOVELS & ROPE’S SWIMMIN’ TIME RECEIVES CRITICAL PRAISE WHILE CRACKING TOP 20

DUO PERFORMS “THE DEVIL IS ALL AROUND” ON CONAN

“Hearst and Trent create such vivid characters and make such opulently open-ended music.” – NPR Music

“…’Swimmin’ Time’ is Shovels & Rope’s most riveting
musical adventure to date.” – Huffington Post

Swimmin’ Time, the highly anticipated new album from the husband & wife duo known as Shovels & Rope, has received an incredible amount of support from the press following its August 26 release via Dualtone Music (See Recent Highlights). Swimmin’ Time debuted at #20 on the Billboard Top 200 Current chart and currently holds the #2 spot at Americana Radio for the fourth straight week. The album debuted at #5 on the Rock chart and #6 on the Independent chart. The band performed “The Devil Is All Around” on Conan September 3 and made their Grand Ole Opry debut on release day.

“…the 13-song collection will likely be the band’s true coming-out party.” – Relix

“Shovels & Rope displays a firm grip on its craft on Swimmin’ Time, and a willingness to
use it in service of any stylistic boulevard it chooses to walk.” – Four Stars – Blurt

Swimmin’ Time premiered on NPR Music’s First Listen followed by a feature segment on NPR Morning Edition. Shovels & Rope were recently the subject of major features in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Rolling Stone Country, Huffington Post, CMT Edge, HitFix and currently appear on covers of American Songwriter Magazine and Paste. The album has received positive reviews in Rolling Stone, Relix, Blurt, Relevant, Southern Living and many more (See Recent Quotes). Upcoming features and reviews are set to run in Billboard, Acoustic Guitar, Bust and much more with an upcoming appearance on the acclaimed PBS series Bluegrass Underground coming this fall.

Swimmin’ Time is follow up to the duo’s 2012 breakthrough album O’ Be Joyful, which garnered unanimous praise from everyone from The New Yorker to The Associated Press to Nylon (See Highlights) and included appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and Austin City Limits. Shovels & Rope took home two of the top honors, Song of the Year (“Birmingham”) and Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2013 Americana Music Awards.

Shovels & Rope spent most of 2012 and 2013 touring nearly non-stop with their signature mix of rock, country, punk and folk to sold out crowds and major festival audiences, that included Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Hangout, Sasquatch, Stagecoach and Newport Folk, when they recently made their second appearance and first on the main stage. As good as their recordings are, it is their live performances that take everything to another level. Watching Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent switch off and play multiple instruments while blending their voices seamlessly is like watching a musical high wire act on unicycles act juggling fire while simultaneously pouring their hearts out in every song.

Seeing is believing. Catch Shovels & Rope as they begin their headlining tour on September 18 in Wilmington, NC.