Shovels & Rope Discuss Rock n’ Roll, Parenting and New Album ‘Little Seeds’

Jordan Bailey

Husband and wife duo Shovels & Rope keep moving forward with the duet-style singing that’s made them successful. Atop sounds of Americana, folk and rock ‘n’ roll, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst use harmonizing as their key to auditory pleasure. Their latest album “Little Seeds” was recorded in the couple’s home studio in Charleston, S.C. Currently on tour throughout the states, these two are not only traveling singer-songwriters, producers, and multi-instrumentalists but now they can add parenting to their credits. They shared their thoughts on recording the new album, as well as adding a baby to their repertoire, with Entertainment Voice.

What about your new album “Little Seeds” differs from your previous work? What is the biggest step forward you feel you’ve taken on this new record?

Cary Ann: The work is a little more personal. Sonically, it’s as wide as we’ve ever been and as loud as we’ve ever been. We were able to spend extra time experimenting with new sounds and random things. You do what you want in the studio and then distill it to put that same energy into the live show.

You seem to use the opportunity of a new album to try your hand at various music sub-genres. How would you describe the style of this album?

Michael: I think it’s a little bit more extreme on this one.
Cary Ann: It’s more rock ‘n’ roll.
Michael: Yeah, it’s definitely more rock ‘n’ roll than the other ones. There are no banjos, but there are mandolins. There are no fiddles.
Cary Ann: But there are pianos.

“Little Seeds” seems very personal to each of you. What drove you to create such intimate songs?

Cary Ann: It was kind of a tumultuous time in our life. Our family was growing and our parents are growing old and their needs are changing. It happens to everybody but it’s happening to us. We write songs to deal with our feelings and the pile of songs that we had to choose from on this record we’re a little more personal.

You both call Charleston, S.C. home, a city that dealt with the tragedy of last year’s church shooting. You yourselves have not only had to deal with that, but a tragedy of your own as told in the song “This Ride.” Do you think the writing of songs like this and “BWYR” helped you both cope in a sort of therapeutic way?

Cary Ann: Oh sure. I think that’s what songwriters draw from, personal pain. Unfortunately, some things just work out that way.

The track “Botched Execution” returns to your roots of creating these elaborate character songs, this one being about a vagabond criminal escapee. Can you talk about what drove you to write this one?

Michael: We set out to write a serious song about that subject just because it sounded like an interesting thing to write a song about. Then it really just turned into more of a cartoon. For whatever reason, it ended up being more of a like a dark comedy comic-strip than anything else.

You’re currently on a nationwide tour through the end of Nov., including a stop in Los Angeles at the Fonda Theatre on the 2nd. On top of the new album and a tour, you’ve also recently had your first child. The question is, how have you managed to juggle this dynamic?

Cary Ann: Well when you have little ones you have to have great structure. Tour life is pretty structured as it is and with the help of a tour babysitter and a crew that loves and respects our family…It’s just the way that we live our lives. We don’t really know anything different. We just rise to the occasion. That’s just how you do it.

You recorded this album yourselves, including all of the instrumentation. Can you talk to us about your home studio and how it’s setup, particularly now that you’ve had to make room for a newborn?

Michael: It’s a room in the upstairs of our house. We have a little bit of gear and it sounds good. These days you don’t’ really need all that much to make a good sounding record. Especially if you know what you want it to sound like. So we’ve made a few records up there and I guess with the newborn there was a lot of time management. We had to up our time management game.
Cary Ann: Babysitters!
Michael: I probably spent a little bit more time up there by myself than I had in the past because Cary was caring for the child. We had to do a lot of dividing and conquering. We just kind of figured it out as we went.

Last question, what will be the first instrument you give your child?

Cary Ann: I think piano and mandolin. Something easy. I don’t know about drums. Drums come later.
Michael: No fiddles.

Shovels & Rope’s latest album “Little Seeds” is available on Apple Music.