The Shires light a new fire: Ben Earle on Bonfire, UK country’s golden age and why they’re starting again.

Just a few days before Bonfire arrives, Ben Earle is still processing what happened at BST Hyde Park.

Standing backstage before The Shires walked out to open for Garth Brooks, he stole a glance through the stage curtains. The vast field stretching out across Hyde Park looked deceptively sparse from where he stood. In his mind, he began preparing himself for a respectable crowd of a few thousand.

Then the moment came.

After an early technical hitch forced a restart, Ben and Crissie Rhodes walked back on stage to a sea of faces—around 35,000 people already gathered hours before Garth Brooks would headline one of the biggest country music events Britain has ever seen. It wasn’t simply another festival appearance. It was a reminder of how far both The Shires and UK country music have travelled together over the past decade.

“I honestly thought we might be playing to five thousand people,” Earle tells countrymusic.co.uk. “Then we walked out and it just felt like a sea of people. It’s a privilege very few artists ever get to experience. You dream about playing to crowds like that.”

That performance could easily have been the crowning moment of an already remarkable career. Instead, for Earle, it felt like the beginning of something new.

As The Shires release their sixth studio album, Bonfire, today, he’s not talking about legacy or looking back. He’s talking about fresh starts, creative freedom and rediscovering the joy that first made him want to write songs. For a duo who have spent more than ten years defining British country music, Bonfire doesn’t sound like the work of artists settling into familiar territory. It sounds like musicians with something new to prove.

“It feels like we’re starting again,” Earle says. “The world feels so different in the UK in terms of country music, and I think there’s a freshness to this record. I personally feel grateful to still be able to do this—and I absolutely love doing it.”

That sense of renewal runs through every conversation about Bonfire. It isn’t just the first Shires album in four years; it’s the soundtrack to a band rekindling its own spark at exactly the same moment British country music is enjoying its brightest era yet.

One song changed everything

Interestingly, there almost wasn’t another Shires album.

Earle says the catalyst was writing Bonfire Song itself.

“I wrote that song and suddenly thought, maybe we should make an album.”

At the time, The Shires weren’t signed to a record label. Their previous deal had ended, and the future wasn’t entirely mapped out.

“We were doing the Two Of Us acoustic tour, and I wasn’t writing loads. Then I sat down and started playing that riff. The whole song came out really quickly.

“I suddenly thought, there’s a record to be made.”

That ultimately led to a new partnership with Blue Highway Records and a project that, fittingly, feels both familiar and refreshingly different.

More than another hit

The obvious headline surrounding Bonfire is “Getaway Car.”

The lead single became the first song by British artists to reach No.1 on the Official UK Country Radio Airplay Chart, remaining in the Top 40 for 15 weeks and giving The Shires another career milestone.

Earle admits he never saw it coming.

“Alyssa Bonagura, who I wrote it with, absolutely did,” he laughs.

“She kept saying, ‘Benji, it’s going No.1, it’s going No.1,’ before we’d even recorded it.”

Like many songwriters, Earle’s confidence fades after finishing a song.

“The second I finish writing something, I think it’s the best thing in the world. Then every day afterwards, the doubt creeps in.”

Now the award sits proudly in his studio.

“I honestly thought we’d run out of firsts. When you’ve been around for a while, you’ve had your biggest show, your first award, your first everything.

“So to become the first act to have a UK Country Radio Airplay No.1… that was amazing.

“Alyssa was right.”

Perhaps more importantly, Getaway Car has reinforced something bigger about today’s music landscape.

“I love writing ballads,” Earle says. “Years ago you’d think those songs would never get played on radio.

“But now people discover music through playlists and streaming. Songs like house of cards or Sing You Back can find their audience in different ways. That really excites me.”

Standing before 35,000 people

Last weekend, The Shires opened the main stage at BST Hyde Park before Garth Brooks.

For a duo who once dreamed of bringing country music into the British mainstream, it represented one of the defining moments of their career.

“It was very hot!” Earle laughs.

“I honestly thought we might walk out to five thousand people.”

Instead, after overcoming technical problems that briefly delayed their set, they looked out across an enormous crowd.

“It just felt like a sea of people.

“It’s a privilege very few artists ever get to experience. You dream about playing to crowds like that.”

But for Earle, the bigger story wasn’t simply the size of the audience.

It was what that audience represented.

“When I wrote Nashville Grey Skies, I had this picture in my head of seeing thousands of people in cowboy boots and hats.

“But what struck me at Hyde Park wasn’t that.

“It was just people who love music.

“Country isn’t seen as novelty anymore. They’re genuine fans.”

For someone who’s watched UK country evolve from niche clubs to sold-out arena tours and stadium shows, BST Hyde Park felt like proof that something fundamental has changed.

“When we started, all we really had was Country to Country.

“Now you’ve got the Opry coming to the Royal Albert Hall, The Long Road, Highways Festival, State Fayre, Hyde Park…

“It used to feel like March was Christmas for country music.

“Now we’ve got these moments all through the year.”

The next breakthrough

Despite everything The Shires have achieved, Earle still believes British country’s biggest breakthrough is yet to come.

Asked whether UK artists still need validation from Nashville, he pauses.

“I don’t know that they do anymore.”

Instead, he points to artists forging their own paths outside traditional country structures.

“I just want a UK country artist to become huge.

“Obviously, I hope it’s us,” he laughs.

“But if it isn’t, I just hope somebody does it.”

He’s already watching the next generation closely.

“I love Outpost Drive.

“Kezia‘s doing amazing things.

“And Gareth from Northern Ireland—I think he’s got an incredible voice.

“I just hope somebody hits that home run.”

A tour built around joy

That renewed optimism shapes The Shires’ plans for their full-band UK tour this November (Full Tour Details here).

Fans can expect plenty of new material, with Bonfire Song, House of Cards, Magnetised, Watching You, Watching Me and Hypocrite all high on Earle’s list of songs he’s eager to play.

Yet, after six albums, choosing a setlist has become its own challenge.

“There are songs like Daddy’s Little Girl, Friday Night and Nashville Grey Skies that we just can’t not play.

“You suddenly realise you’ve already got ten songs before you’ve even started adding the new ones.”

Ultimately though, Earle says he’s learned something over the past decade that matters more than any lighting rig or elaborate production.

Reflecting on the technical problems they overcame at BST Hyde Park, he says ten years ago the setback might have derailed the show.

Today, experience has taught him otherwise.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that it’s just a show.

“As long as you’ve done the work and learnt the songs, the best version of yourself is just having fun.

“It’s not work anymore.

“It’s just a joy.”

With Bonfire, that sense of joy radiates throughout the album—and, if Ben Earle is right, it may also mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter not only for The Shires, but for British country music itself.