Tag: Mastersons

Mastersons’ folk with a rock ‘n’ roll heart

 in Americana Music

By Paul T. Mueller

The Mastersons – guitarist/singer Chris Masterson and multi-instrumentalist/singer Eleanor Whitmore – finished up their current tour March 12 with a matinee show at the Old Quarter Acoustic Café in Galveston, Texas.

Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore (Photo by Paul T. Mueller)

The duo, longtime – and now former – members of Steve Earle’s band, The Dukes, got rhythmic support from Eleanor’s sister Bonnie on bass and drummer Falcon Valdez, playing 12 songs, including several from their most recent album, 2020’s No Time for Love Songs. The Mastersons’ sound might be described as folk with a rock ‘n’ roll heart – thoughtful lyrics and two- and three-part harmonies backed by Chris Masterson’s skillful guitar and Eleanor Whitmore’s excellent violin, guitar and synthesizer. Highlights included “Eyes Wide Open,” an anthem to taking life as it comes, and an encore cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “No Place to Fall,” in honor of Van Zandt’s March 7 birthday. Bonnie Whitmore, also an accomplished singer-songwriter, performed a couple of her own songs mid-set – “Fine” from her 2020 album Last Will and Testament and “Cardiac Disaster” from an upcoming EP. Opening the show was a set by the Whitmore Sisters – same players, different name – featuring six songs from their 2022 album Ghost Stories.

Show #9 The Mastersons and Jesse Terry

 in Americana Music

Mastersons album transient lullabyEleanor Whitmore and Chris Masterson have had a great career as the Mastersons, and as a duchess and duke respectively in Steve Earle’s band. We caught up with them in Kansas City at the Folk Alliance International Conference and talked  about their latest album “Transient Lullaby” and the most buzzed-about song of the conference “Don’t Tell Me to Smile.”

This episode also features Jesse Terry, who shares some thoughts about his fine new album “Natural” and a song entitled “I Was an Island” on our First Person segment.

About  Americana Music News: We’re in our seventh year covering Americana, roots, country and folk music from our base in Nashville. We’ve just launched a new Americana Music News podcast, available free of charge through all the leading podcast providers, including iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play Music.  And  please join our 23,000 Twitter followers to continue the conversation.

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The Mastersons’ “Don’t Tell Me to Smile”

 in Americana Music

You couldn’t walk  more than a few steps at last weekend’s Folk Alliance International Conference without seeing someone wearing a “Don’t Tell Me to Smile” button. It’s a statement for the times, but also doubled as a bit of promotion for the new Mastersons video of the same name. From “Transient Lullaby:”

 

Review: The Mastersons’ “Transient Lullaby”

 in Americana Music, New releases, Reviews

By Paul T. Mueller–
Transient Lullaby, the most recent album by The Mastersons – singer/guitarist Chris Masterson and singer/multi-instrumentalist Eleanor Whitmore – reads as an account of the couple’s musical and personal lives. Marked by well-crafted lyrics and beautiful harmonies, these songs form an insightful look at the highs and lows of a life of almost constant togetherness, on and off the stage. They’re backed by Masterson’s excellent guitar playing and Whitmore’s fine performance on pretty much anything with strings, including but not limited to guitars, violin, cello and mandolin.

The album’s sequence seems to track the arc of a relationship; the 11 tracks cover a lot of emotional ground, and easy answers are in short supply. The first track, “Perfect,” sums up the beginning of a relationship, with a mix of wariness – “You seem like a great find/But I’m broken, so please be kind” – and optimism – “We’re not perfect, but we’ll turn these tears to gold.” Conflict surfaces in the title track, in the struggle between personal bonds and professional demands: “It’s time to go/It’s been great, but I can’t stay long.”

Several of the songs that follow explore, with sometimes painful honesty, the everyday conflicts that challenge relationships. The titles hold clues: “You Could Be Wrong,” “Fight,” “Don’t Tell Me to Smile,” “This Isn’t How It Was Supposed to Go.” But it’s not all darkness. “You are my light,” the couple sings on “Shine On.” “We’re gonna shine on/Gonna shine on.”

By the end of the album, restlessness seems to have won out. “The time has come for us to part ways,” Masterson sings on “Happy When I’m Movin’,”the last “official” track. “ ’Cause we both know/I’m happy when I’m movin’.” That would make for a sad ending if not for the bonus track, “Anchor,” which closes a lyrical circle by echoing a line in the opening track – “Can’t you feel me? I’m your anchor” – with a similarly upbeat sentiment. “ ‘Cause I want to be right by your side,” they sing. “I promise you/In a world untied, you’re my anchor.”

Instrumental support comes from Andrew Pressman and the late George Reiff on bass, David Boyle on keyboards, and Falcon Valdez, Cully Symington and Conrad Choucroun on drums.

New to chart: Trampled By Turtles, Dr. John, Mastersons

 in Americana Music

Lyle Lovett remains steady at the top of the Americana Music Association  Airplay Chart with Release Me, holding off Justin Townes Earle’s Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me. It looks like a long run ahead.

New to the chart this week: Trampled by Turtles’ Stars and Satellites at #25,  Dr. John’s Locked Down at #27 and the Mastersons’ Birds Fly South at #28.

Most added this week: Nanci Griffith’s Intersection.