The Mastersons are singer-songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore. When they’re not touring the world as valued longtime members of Steve Earle’s band the Dukes, the musical and marital twosome make inspired albums of their own emotionally vivid, deeply humanistic songs.
Today Glide is excited to premiere “In The Name Of God,” (below) one of the most potent songs on their new EP Red, White & I Love You Too. Backed by a thumping beat, the acoustically picked song feels like it was just written with its condemnation of the current state of the world, but it was actually written a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, the political situation has only gotten worse, making the lyrics even more relevant. The dark Americana song finds the duo letting their signature vocals shine, while Eleanor Whitmore steps into the spotlight with her own soulful vocals.
The Mastersons describe the inspiration behind the song:
“We wrote this song a couple years back while on the “Lampedusa: Concert for Refugees Tour” with Joan Baez, Patty Griffin, Steve Earle, Brandi Carlile, Lucinda Williams, James McMurtry and Lila Downs. It was so inspiring to be singing our own songs alongside these amazing artists to benefit refugees. We got to thinking about all the violence that people are fleeing when they are forced from their homeland and the intersection of fear and hate. The current administration has been spreading messages of fear and hate and has separated children from their families and locked them in cages. Every human has a right to a home. Every child should be with their parents and live in a world where they don’t have to fear violence.”
LISTEN:
In time for this year’s presidential election, The Mastersons will be releasing the above mentioned 5-song EP titled Red, White & I Love You Too on October 16. Red, White & I Love You Too was recorded at the Mastersons’ home studio. Fellow Steve Earle & the Dukes bandmate, Jeff Hill, who’s worked with Chris Robinson, Teddy Thompson, Neal Casal and others, added bass and drums on “In The Name Of God” and mixed the EP. The EP will be available through all digital providers today and continues the themes of unity and compassion the duo explored in their recent album, No Time For Love Songs (READ OUR REVIEW).
“Last year when we were going through the songs for our fourth album, No Time For Love Songs, with our producer Shooter Jennings, he mentioned a couple in the pile being ‘their own tornados,’” says Chris. “At the time we thought maybe one or two of those songs should live in their own space, on a different recording perhaps. We finished the album and geared up for a busy year of touring without giving that second recording much more of a thought.”
“We were on tour on the East Coast with the Jayhawks, in the second week of our record release, when the world shut down and we canceled the rest of our tour,” Chris says. “We came home from NYC, then the epicenter of COVID-19, and Eleanor had gotten it and was really sick. Back home in L.A., the riots and protests following George Floyd’s death were 400 feet from our apartment, closer if you count the flash grenades and troops of officers in full riot gear storming down our alleyway with the sound of some poor soul yelling “don’t shoot, don’t shoot!” We heard this over the alarms of broken-in businesses and the roar of helicopters that had been circling for hours; we were just trying to take our dog out that evening. Now we’ve got almost 200,000 dead from the virus and there is still denial. Things are not ok. We can’t have four more years of chaos and fear.”
Sequestered in their home faced with an empty calendar, a bunch of guitars and a looming election, the Mastersons were motivated to get these songs down. No Time For Love Songs, released in March, addressed political issues but was rounded out by songs about loss and softened by the lush arrangements. Red, White & I Love You Too, while coming from the same place of love, is stripped down a bit more to reflect the starkness of the situation we’re in.
“We’re facing a moral dilemma for who we want to be as a nation,” Chris says. “We’re hoping voters lead with love, kindness and empathy when they make their decision in November.”
Red, White and I Love You Too is out October 16th. PRE-ORDER
Photo credit: Curtis Wayne Millard
