Anyone going to see Steve Earle between 2010 and 2022 and who caught the support act will be aware of the Mastersons.
Eleanor Whitmore and Chris Masterson, a husband and wife duo, were part of Steve’s touring band, the Dukes and Duchesses, for those twelve years, and frequently performed a double shift as the support act too.
More fool those who preferred to go to the bar than catch the support act. They missed a real treat. I’d venture, provocatively some people may think, that Chris and Eleanor were playing music far more essential than anything Steve Earle himself released since The Revolution Starts Now.
As well as that, they have toured simply as the Mastersons, looking to build their own audience outside of the confines of Earle’s tours. While the venues are much smaller, they are far more intimate. I would guess they’d rather be playing bigger rooms. However, we enjoy the pleasure of seeing them close up. There’s more chance of interaction between the stage and the auditorium. And they are an excellent live act.
Eleanor sings, plays violin and tenor guitar while Chris sings and plays guitar. Together they are the Mastersons.
They left Steve Earle’s band – their statement made it clear they did so on good terms – having tired of the grind of touring and having little time to devote to their own music and their own lives. The title of their third album was a nod towards these problems, being called Transient Lullaby.
They don’t have the biggest catalogue, and given that their last album was 2020’s No Time For Love Songs, I’m hoping something new will be released very soon. Having said that, I am also including a track from the 2022 album Ghost Stories by the Whitmore Sisters.
The Whitmore Sisters is a side project, with Eleanor joined by her sister Bonnie. Chris not only played on every track, but produced the album, so I don’t see any problem including it here. It’s an album that has its own identity, being very different from the Mastersons’ albums, but given they are unlikely to be so productive that they would be able to provide their own Toppermost, there is an absolutely gorgeous, heart-melting song from that album included here.
| Track | Album |
|---|---|
| Good Luck Charm | Good Luck Charm |
| Perfect | Transient Lullaby |
| One Word More | Birds Fly South |
| Crash Test | Birds Fly South |
| Eyes Open Wide | No Time For Love Songs |
| Nobody Knows | Good Luck Charm |
| Friends We Leave Behind | Ghost Stories |
| Spellbound | No Time For Love Songs |
| Birds Fly South | Birds Fly South |
| Shine On | Transient Lullaby |
I’m opening with the title track of their second album Good Luck Charm. They sing about standing together in the face of adversity. It’s so positive and upbeat that I can’t think of a better opening song for this top 10.
You tell me
Whose house is falling down
When we’re standing together
It’s a celebration of their relationship and something we all need in these trying times. I can’t imagine that they could have imagined how essential the emotion of the song would prove to be twelve years after its release.
The bright-eyed optimism of Good Luck Charm is tempered by realism and doubt in Transient Lullaby’s Perfect.
Please tell me that you made a plan
We’ll do the best we can
We’re not perfect but we’ll turn these tears to gold
Putting these frailties to the fore produced a beautiful song.
Birds Fly South includes a song that describes a relationship coming to an end. Given that Chris and Eleanor had only just got together, the song’s lyrics, written by Chris, must be about an earlier partner. He describes a situation familiar to any of us who have undergone drawn-out breakups
If you want to be the one who is right, well, all right then
And I’ll take the blame ’cause I’m too tired of fighting
You’ve heard all my lies before
Not one word more, not one word more
Despite the misery, One Word More is a compelling song and for me one of the highlights of that debut album.
The video is very amusing; Chris and Eleanor performing with absolutely deadpan faces as domestic chaos erupts all around them.
While that song sketches a dying relationship, Crash Test from the first album is all about the excitement of a new relationship and spending as much time as you can and exploring new things together.
I want to ride with you
Travel through space and time with you
I want to ride with you
Take a swim with you
Deep down into the ocean blue with you
I want to dive with you
Don’t want to wait for you baby, there’s not enough time
I don’t care if we don’t make it, I just want to try
I want a crash test
I generally try to avoid performances recorded on a phone, but the audio and visual quality here isn’t too bad. Plus, they are introduced by Steve Earle who backs up the performance.
Though should anyone think Chris and Eleanor somehow avoid the normal vicissitudes of everyday life, there is a song on the Transient Lullaby album which Eleanor introduces on YouTube’s Jam in the Van “a song perfect for a married couple to sing. It’s called Fight.” Ultimately, it takes a positive view of such domestic disputes.
It’s now six years since the Mastersons produced a new album, 2020’s No Time For Love Songs. I hope they are back in the studio and writing songs. They are still playing live (I see a recent show they played featured Maria McKee in a guest spot, which I would have loved to have seen), though only in the US.
My next song is from that album and is called Eyes Open Wide.
Following on from my comment above about the song Fight, this is also all about the challenges all relationships face.
Baby don’t run and hide
Stay steady we’re turning the tide
We’ll change one thing at a time
My head ain’t in the sand
My eyes are open wide
Nobody Knows from Good Luck Charm seems to be a song Eleanor brought from an earlier relationship.
Got a god-awful feeling
This is the end of a long time coming
‘Cause I can’t stop believing
A shoulder is always turned on someone …
… Like you’re immune to long goodbyes
Nobody knows, nobody knows but me
The spirit of the album is a celebration of them being together. This goes against that. On the other hand, it’s an excellent song. Hence its place here.
Having said that they haven’t produced a new album since 2020, there is a side project – the Whitmore Sisters – (as noted in my introduction) which produced a beautiful album, Ghost Stories. It came out in 2022.
Don’t think that this is an alternative Mastersons album with Bonnie simply substituting for Chris. It has its own identity and, overall, the sound is very much about the gorgeous sibling harmonies. It has more of a country feel than the Mastersons albums.
The song I’ve picked, Friends We Leave Behind, is permeated by melancholy, but is one I have started identifying with more and more in the last couple of years with friends and family having died. But it’s beautiful and comforting. The album version had piano to the fore. This live version is solely acoustic guitars.
The friends we leave behind
It’s what defines us
How many will there be when we’re gone?
After three albums on New West, No Time For Love Songs saw the pair move to a new label, Red House Records, with Shooter Jennings in the producer’s chair.
The first song I’ve taken from that album is Spellbound. It seems to me to be directed to a friend rather than a song about their relationship.
Take my advice
From a word of a friend
To worship a monster
Such a foolish endeavour
Don’t get carried away
They’re selling nothing but lies
I wonder is it addressed to someone in thrall to Trump or is it a more intimate relationship? I tend towards Trump because of the line recalling:
When we were young
And people were kind
Eleanor sings lead and I love her delivery of the words, Oh but fear is the devil you know.
As Texans, Chris and Eleanor never enjoyed New York winters.
New York’s getting me down
I’ve run out of reasons to hang around
That’s why birds fly south when it all comes down
All night I’m going to drive
Will you be right by my side?
I’m using another phone recording because again it’s got decent audio, even if the camera work is very shaky. However, it has Allison Moorer joining them on Birds Fly South and of course she and Eleanor were for a time the Duchesses.
It’s a great closing song for that album but I’m not going to finish with that.
The final song in this Toppermost is Shine On.
It’s got such a positive outlook and makes promises for the future.
I’ll keep you safe
You know your secrets are safe with me
You are my light
Together we’re going to shine on, shine on
I’m hoping that Chris and Eleanor will be delivering new music before too long and I’d love to see them touring the UK again.
If you see they are playing in your neighbourhood go and see them. You won’t be disappointed.
The Mastersons at Red House Records
Carl Parker originated in Chester but has lived in north London since 1981. He’s unusual in these times in not subscribing to any social media, but contributes to sites like The Afterword and used to contribute to No Depression before it turned into an elitist institution. He’s recently retired and enjoys a relaxed life, where listening to new music is a recurring pleasure.
TopperPost #1,204
Spacemen 3
Saw Eleanor and Chris play with Steve Earle many times. Have always meant to check out their own work, especially after hearing their great tribute to the late Chris Porter (‘You Got The Last Laugh’). This excellent piece gives me the concise intro I was looking for.