The Shires to follow in Dolly Parton's shoes at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry

The home counties country duo will top the bill next month

The Shires are the first British country band to reach the top 10 in the Official UK Album chart

It’s the “church of country music”, the legendary Nashville venue where Dolly Parton made her name. Now The Shires, a British duo from the Home Counties, will tread the famous boards after receiving an invitation to play at The Grand Ole Opry.

Crissie Rhodes from Bedfordshire and Ben Earle from Hertfordshire will top the bill at the “home of American music” next month after receiving an invitation from the Country Music Association in Tennessee.

Launched as a weekly radio broadcast in 1925, The Grand Ole Opry has provided a showcase for country’s biggest names, including Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline as well as rising stars. The audience can be unforgiving though – Elvis Presley was told not to give up his day job when he tried his luck in 1954.

The Shires have created a buzz in Nashville after they became the first British country act to secure a top ten UK album with their debut, Brave.

Earle, 27, from St Albans, said: “We first found out we were playing when a fan told us we were listed on the Opry’s website. We didn’t believe it but our manager told us it was true. It’s a dream for us to play at the home of country.”

The band watched a concert at the venue when they recorded in Music City last year. “Entering the Opry is like going to church. It’s almost a sacred experience and you have the whole history of country music lining the walls,” Earle said. “It’s the pinnacle of country and the longest running radio show in the world. We never imagined we would be on the stage a year later.”

Like the other performers at the Saturday night show, broadcast live across the US on satellite radio and a webcast, The Shires will get just two songs to demonstrate their wares.

“Joe public there might not have a clue who we are,” Earle admitted. “We’re hoping the audience don’t think ‘who are you Brits thinking you can do country music?’ but the response we had out there before was very welcoming.”

Earle met Rhodes after advertising for a singer on Facebook. Their name is a nod to their home counties roots, which they insist their sojourn in Nashville will not change. “Country music for us is about the honesty, the story-telling and the lyrics, not about rhinestones and cowboys,” Earle said. “It’s so important to maintain our Britishness. We sing about fish and chips in our song Made In England.”

The band are signed to the Decca Nashville label in the UK and Earles hopes the Opry performance will act as a “catalyst” for their career in the US, where their song State Lines is beginning to get radio play. However well they are received, The Shires will be flying back to play at the Glastonbury Festival.

Sam Palladio, the British actor and musician, who stars in the US musical drama television series, Nashville, is believed to have helped the duo get their invitation to the Opry.