The Mastersons tour Europe with "Transient Lullaby" starting in a few days

With endless touring came new levels of comfort and confidence, and when it was time to record Transient Lullaby, The Mastersons knew they wanted to take a different approach than their first two releases. The band set up shop at Arlyn Studios in Austin, TX, where Chris Masterson shared production duties with longtime friend and collaborator George Reiff (Ray Wylie Hubbard, Band of Heathens). Together, they chased a sound that was subtler and more evocative, deeper and more contemplative.

"A lot of what we listen to when we have some rare time off is what we consider late night music," explains Chris, who previously played guitar with Son Volt and Jack Ingram among others. "The last record was bright and jangly and we wanted this one to be vibey and dark. A lot of the stuff is very performance-based and not at all fussed with. We've grown so much more comfortable in our skin that we really weren't trying to sound like anyone other than ourselves this time around."

"We've had a lot of time and a lot of miles to refine our sound and our style of singing," adds Eleanor Whitmore, whose resume includes work with Regina Spektor and Angus & Julia Stone."I think the depth of our songwriting has really grown, too. Part of the time we're writing on a tour bus with Steve Earle, and the bar for poetry is pretty high when you're within earshot of one of the greatest songwriters alive."

For The Mastersons, all that matters is where they're headed, and the songs they'll write when they get there. We're excited to see The Mastersons will back in Europe this October/November for a string of shows:

19/10: Zaragoza (ESP) @ Rock & Blues
20/10: San Sebastian (ESP) @ Altxerri Jazz Bar 
21/10: Madrid (ESP) @ Sala Siroco 
25/10: Solothurn (CH) @ Acoustic Nights 
27/10: Nijmegen (NL) @ Lux 
28/10: Edam (NL) @ A Walk About Music 
30/10: Unna (DE) @ Tortuga 
01/11: Hengelo (NL) @ Metropool 
03/11: Groningen (NL) @ Take Root 
04/11: Malmö (SWE) @ Folk å Rock 
05/11: Göteborg (SWE) @ Pustervik 
06/11: Oslo (NO) @ Biblioteket 
07/11: Stockholm (SWE) @ Twang 
08/11: Norderstedt (DE) @ Music Star
09/11: Haarlem (NL) @ Patronaat