Shovels & Rope
Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, husband-and-wife folk duo Shovels & Rope weren’t married yet when they recorded their 2008 debut album under their own names, Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. The album’s title, Shovels & Rope, became the duo’s moniker after they married the following year, though they both recorded solo albums before and after launching Shovels & Rope as a duo. A lot of people first came across them in a documentary that began screening at festivals in 2014, The Ballad of Shovels & Rope, which helped their third album released later that year, Swimmin’ Time, to reach number 21 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
They’ll still be touring in support of last year’s Little Seeds full-length when they headline the Belly Up on February 20, though their setlists also regularly include tracks from their individual solo careers as well as cuts from their 2015 covers album, Busted Jukebox Vol. 1, featuring tunes by Shakey Graves, Lucius, the Milk Carton Kids, Butch Walker, JD McPherson, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more.