Cary Ann Hearst

Cary Ann Hearst has a big mouth and a sparkle in her eye. She's a compact but powerful piece of artillery and she sings like jesus' little probate. If she comes to your town you should come out to listen. She has a snappy turn of phrase, a simple sense of melody and primeval sense of guitar rhythm that she learned by listening through the glass windows on Broadway as a young girl in Nashville, Tennessee.

Hearst spent her formative adult years going ?coastal? in Charleston, SC. Her mind unravelled, her hair went crazy and she grew roots out of the bottom of her feet. Planted firmly in the Holy City, she was surrounded by an uncannily talented community of artists. Like any little oak tree, she thrived under their influence.

She started The Boonies, who played pirate music in the cooler coffee shops, then the Borrowed Angels who played honky tonk in bars. She was the only girl in Cary Ann Hearst and The Gunstreet Girls. She and Michael Trent started Shovels and Rope in 2008 and now tour as a harmony-driven duo that features an orphan drum set rescued from the garbage. Creating Shrimp Records in 2009, Hearst and Trent could make and market their music on their own. They have toured with Amos Lee, Butch Walker, Ponderosa, and play hundreds of shows all over the south east, into the north east and even occasionally California, France, and Chicago, Illinois.

Cary Ann Hearst put out "Dust and Bones" in 2007, then the gothic country folk tales on "Shovels and Rope" were released in 2008. Awaiting the arrival of her forthcoming full length record "Lions and Lambs", Hearst has been promoting her EP "Are You Ready to Die", issued by Filter US Recordings and Shrimp Records.

Those who hate country music hate her especially for forcing them to like country music. She wants you love her, but she's not gonna change for you. She would never ask you to change, after all.