the mastersons

The Mastersons (from the album Transient Lullaby available on Red House Records)
When The Mastersons offer the title track from their recent release you can be assured that the band know about the song from the inside with “Transient Lullaby” singing the pair to sleep each night once the crackle of the amplifiers subside. The husband and wife team of Chris Masterson (guitar, vocals) and Eleanor Whitmore (fiddle, guitar, vocals) are on their third release as The Mastersons while they maintain roles for Steve Earle in his backing band, The Dukes. The couple have been both band members as well as openers for Steve over the past seven years, so the tales on Transient Lullaby come easy. Chris knows that the road will provide, feeling that ‘when you travel like we do, if your antenna is up, there's always something going on around you. Ideas can be found everywhere. The hardest thing to find is time’. It was tough love encouragement from Steve Earle take gave birth to the band, Eleanor Whitmore recalling that ‘before we hit the road with him in 2010, Steve said, 'You'd better have a record ready because I'm going to feature you guys during the show. We didn't even have a band name at the time. We were going through all these ideas and Steve suggested, 'Why don’t you just be The Mastersons, and that was that’. 
The Mastersons wrangle with a what-if in “This Isn’t How It’s Supposed to Go” as Transient Lullaby sees the lives behind the wheel as a crooked line in “Perfect”, picks out notes that sparkle like sun on water off the coast with “Highway 1”, feels the burn from constantly being in the spotlight with “Don’t Tell Me to Smile”, and hits the stage like a true professional, shaking off road weary woes in “Shine On”. In an effort to challenge themselves, The Mastersons took the familiar out of their recording process to provide a subtler sound for Transient Lullaby heading to Austin, Texas and entering Arlyn Studios with longtime friend and collaborator George Rieff co-producing alongside Chris Masterson. The sound that pair curated wraps an arm around The Mastersons road tales, supporting and complementing the stories. Transient Lullabyadds a quiet rhythm underneath the voice of reason in “You Could Be Wrong”, climbs “Fire Escape” on a persistently building melody, and puts “Fight” into a ring of 60’s Pop percussion as The Mastersons lay asphalt under their wheels for an exit on “Happy When I’m Movin’”.
Listen and buy the music of The Mastersons from AMAZON or iTunes

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