Shovels & Rope is the husband-and-wife duo of husband and wife Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, celebrated for their fearless, genre-blurring blend of country, folk, bluegrass, Americana, and blues through a punk/indie rock prism. The duo began with two old guitars, a handful of harmonicas, and a junkyard drum kit harvested from an actual garbage heap and adorned with tambourines, flowers and kitchen rags, and since 2008, they've built a reputation for electrifying live performances and deeply honest songwriting.

For their latest album, "Something Is Working Up Above My Head," they followed the rule: "we can only use what we work with live and whatever we put down on tape must be accomplishable on a stage in a live setting." This resulted in what they consider a definitive album that encapsulates the sound of their live performance. The record is a catalog of vulnerable characters with sweet and sordid narratives, bookended by songs that pose questions about what, if anything, is pulling the strings.