Rod Picott and Amanda Shires in Concert

A yankee singer-songwriter and a Texas fiddler

The Studio@620 and Syliva Rusche invite you a concert event featuring Rod Picott and Amanda Shires on Sunday September 13th at 7:00 pm.  A yankee singer-songwriter and a Texas fiddler might seem an unlikely pairing  but the natural chemistry between Rod Picott and Amanda Shires is undeniable.  Rising from the sun-driven plains of West Texas is fiddler and singer/songwriter Amanda Shires and from the northern mill towns of New England is Rod Picott.

At 16 Amanda Shires was playing fiddle with The Texas Playboys, an auspicious start that testifies to her natural talent and soulful delivery. From there, Shires went on to be one of the founding members of  Lubbock's Thrift Store Cowboys, releasing 4 albums independently and reaching top ten status on many CMJ charts around the country as well as becoming the number one selling act in 2007 for the respected internet retailer Miles Of Music. In 2008 one of Amanda Shires compositions was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. As an in demand side player Amanda has worked  with Texas legends Billy Joe Shaver, and Gary P Nunn as well as Folk/Bluegrass favorites The Rowen Brothers, Whit Smith’s Hot Jazz Caravan, and one of Indie rock's hottest acts Devotchka. Her first solo album release Being Brave from 2005 , mixes brilliant arrangements and performances of traditional fiddle music along with several of her own compositions.  Now 25 Amanda Shires stands in front of an already impressive body of work and on the edge of a career in full bloom. Amanda Shires new cd, West Crossed Timbers, is currently #26 on the American Music Association chart.

In 1994 Rod Picott  moved to Nashville TN. where he established himself as one of the better new writers in town as well as opening shows for Alison Krauss and Union Station and Gillian Welch. His co-write Broke Down with Slaid Cleaves was the most played song on Americana radio in 2001. Rod Picott has released 5 albums since 2001 to stellar reviews both stateside and overseas. Picott's debut release, Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues received airplay from Bob Harris on the BBC, and Music Row magazine’s Robert Oermann called the debut, "the birth of a major, major artist". 2002's Straydogs  featured guest appearances from Alison Krauss and frequent co-writer Slaid Cleaves and found it's way onto the Americana chart for 5 weeks. Released in November 2004, Girl From Arkansas  brought Picott's eye for lyric detail and whiskey-voiced delivery together with a newfound intimacy. In 2005, a collection of live performances titled Travel Log was released. Recorded in front of a small crowd in Charlotte N.C. the cd documents a soulful  performance with accompaniment from dobro and lapsteel player Matt Mauch. In 2006 Picott co-produced, [with David Henry] Slaid Cleaves' Rounder Records release Unsung to great reviews. In the summer of 2007 Rod assembled some of his favorite musicians and recorded another album Summerbirds. Maverick magazine called Summerbirds "as damn near perfect as you can get" and gave the album a full five star review.

Amanda Shires and Rod Picott met at the Folk Alliance Conference in Austin Tx. in 2006. Over the following 2 years they toured throughout the States and Europe playing more than 150 shows together. In the winter of 2008 they began co-writing and recording their debut duo project. Rod Picott and Amanda Shires are currently touring The U.K. and Europe in support of their debut duo release, titled "Sew Your Heart with Wires" . The album is a completely acoustic recording featuring only their two voices, Picott's guitar and Shires' fiddle and Ukelele. The songs range from  a murder ballad [Little Darlin']  to a gospel rave up [When You Get Your Story Told] to an outlaw narrative [Ruby]. All ten tracks were  co-written by Rod Picott and Amanda Shires. The album's sound is rich, full of texture and drenched with soul and reverb. The UK/ European release for Sew Your Heart with Wires is October 27th. The album, distributed by Proper Distribution, reached #7 on the Euro/Americana chart and was voted #4 best debut album of 2008 by the FAR Chart reporters.