The Mastersons leave Earle's band

Chris and Eleanor Masterson, who are husband-and-wife and have recorded on their own, were members of The Dukes for a dozen years. Chris played lead guitar and Eleanor fiddle and mandolin. Steve Earle and The Dukes concluded a tour that started June 1 and ended Sept. 3.

"The time has come for us to end our tenure as members of Steve Earle's band The Dukes," they said in a press release. "After 12 years and 7 albums, it's time to move on. It has been an absolute honor and privilege to stand stage right of a living legend night after night. Steve has been an incredible ally and advocate for our bands The Mastersons and The Whitmore Sisters. We have Steve to credit for being the one who prompted us to make our first album, and we cannot thank him enough! We also have an immense love and respect for our bandmates, the crew and the entire team that keeps the show on the road."

"This past decade has seen us crisscrossing the globe endlessly, only pausing momentarily to make records. We've toured though sickness, the loss of family members and other challenging circumstances. We now find ourselves wanting a time to pause, to reflect and to find a way to enjoy the fruits of our labor a bit more."

"Moving forward ,you will surely see us onstage, hear us on a record and find us out and about with our own endeavors and other artists. We're just taking a moment to recalibrate and redefine how exactly we're going to do this."

"Our love for music hasn't waned, and we are deeply grateful and consider ourselves very lucky to keep the lights on with art. We cherish the experiences we've had thus far and the fans we've made along the way, who likely discovered us at one of Steve's shows."

"We'll see you down the road and look forward to the next chapter whatever that may be. Perhaps we'll even find ourselves in Steve's sphere again somehow, somewhere."

Eleanor Masterson also had been in a band, The Whitmore Sisters, with her sister Bonnie.