The London Folk and Roots Festival Presents The Mastersons

The Mastersons are Brooklyn based husband-wife band who make 'music that fuses indie pop and folk music with big, sweet melodies...' (Houston Chronicle.) Denton, TX-born Eleanor Whitmore and Housten-Bred Chris Masterson have both been making music for most of their lives and began playing instruments and performing from a young age. The future partners had considerable success as instrumentalists-for-hire, with Eleanor backing the likes of Regina Spektor, Kelly Willis, Diana Ross and Will Hoge, and Chris playing with Son Volt, Jack Ingram, Bobby Bare Jr and Wayne Hancock. They met in 2005 and after each releasing solo projects, they eventually found more satisfaction in writing, performing and recording together.

It was whilst touring with Steve Earle that they wrote most of their second and most recent album 'Good Luck Charm'. Generously filled with infectious melodies, instinctive harmonies and vividly insightful lyrics, 'Good Luck Charm' embodies the uncanny rapport that singer-guitarist Chris and singer-violinist-guitarist Eleanor have developed in their experiences living, touring and making music together.

Although 'Good Luck Charm' is the Mastersons' second album, in many ways it's their first full-on collaboration. Whereas 'Birds Fly South' consisted largely of songs that they'd composed individually, all of 'Good Luck Charm's' material was co-written by Chris and Eleanor, giving the material added depth as well as a powerful collective lyrical identity that's matched by their expressive harmonies. The album was recorded with noted producer/engineer Jim Scott, whose resume includes work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Wilco and the Dixie Chicks - it raises the stakes with 11 emotionally precise new songs that are firmly rooted in sometimes-harsh reality, yet which radiate with hope and optimism.

The Mastersons plan to promote 'Good Luck Charm' in the best way they know how: by getting in front of people and singing and playing together.