Watch Shovels & Rope’s Raucous ‘I Know’ on ‘Conan’
Shovels & Rope brought their signature raw energy to Conan last night for a performance of “I Know,” the opening track off their 2016 album Little Seeds.
Though the setup is simply Hearst on drums and Trent on a heavily distorted guitar, the pair generate a sound that is big, loud and raucous, with classic rock-indebted vocal harmonies that serve the slightly cynical message of the song well. The track itself is a knowing wink at fellow musicians hoping to become big fish in a huge, crowded pond, with pointed lyrics like, “I’ll see you in a year on your way back down / ‘Cause I know exactly where you found that sound,” revealing one of the many difficulties of trying to break through as an artist.
Speaking to Rolling Stone Country earlier this year, Hearst revealed that she, too, sometimes feels the very pressure described in “I Know,” but that she and Trent do their best to focus on making good music instead of pleasing critics. “Early on we just kind of said, ‘We’re gonna make the kind of music that we’re able to make and we’re gonna put it out in the world and we’re gonna play shows behind it,'” she said. “It’s as simple as that.”
Shovels & Rope are currently on tour in Europe, with a couple of United States dates planned for February. Check out a full list of tour dates here.