Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart are a duo, dammit, and they don't care who knows it!
That's kind of the statement the longtime couple, longtime musical collaborators say they were hoping for with their first studio CD, Never Gonna Let You Go.
"It's almost a sense of relief in a way because now that we've decided to become a full duo it's like ..." Earle says before pausing, "I guess the only way of describing it is, it's funny, a husband and wife know they can and are going to be together forever.
"That was our intention when we went into this -- it was a big decision for us."
Stuart agrees. He and Earle are both on the line during our telephone interview to promote their show tonight at the Uptown Stage.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, really, considering the roots music pair have pretty much been inseparable since they first met in Nashville in 1992, marrying the next year.
Inseparable, that is, until early last year when Earle's brother Steve asked her to open for him on tour, and Stuart, who had once been in Steve's band and was long Stacey's accompanist, decided to head out alone and finally promote his solo CD, Songs From A Corner Stage.
Absence, they say, does make the heart grow fonder, and Earle says it was tough "realizing that the other half of the sound wasn't there, the other person wasn't there.
"From the time you woke up in the morning to the time when you finally make it to a hotel room ... it was the loneliest world I think we'd ever have."
Which is why the duo statement seemed so urgent and why, Stuart says, you'll usually always see them side by side these days.
"We have to give each other some space every now and then because we're just right there sandwiched together," he allows, admitting he likes to check out the odd baseball game by himself. "Sometimes you do just want to have your own space."
And when they don't get any space? Well, let's just say don't go looking for any stories of arguments of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton or Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee proportions.
"I guess we don't really argue, personally," says Earle. "It also helps that we're best friends.
"Are you my best friend, Mark?"
His reply? "Sure."
Of course.
