Don Stiernberg and Chris Jones – photo © Elizabeth Loring
After 45 years of friendship, Chris Jones and Don Stiernberg have finally formed a musical duo. They start with their shared devotion to traditional bluegrass and classic country music. Don brings his masterful jazz and swing mandolin work and guitarist Chris contributes a career’s worth of beautiful original songs. It’s all tied together with soulful “brother-style” duet singing and the sly sense of humor they are both known for.
Chris is still the frontman of the Night Drivers, as well as a broadcaster on SiriusXM radio and writer of a humor column here at Bluegrass Today. Don performs regularly with his own jazz trios and quartets and Chicago’s Third Coast Bluegrass band. But both of them are loving this new duo, which allows for more intimate and spontaneous interactions with each other and with the audience.
As Chris observes, “I find people listen to original songs more closely in a duo setting, while in a band it’s easy for the audience to be distracted with all the things that are going on instrumentally.”
Don appreciates the personal connection with his “very dear old friend”—he’s been a fan of Chris from the moment he heard the new guy in Special Consensus who was causing a stir with his George Jones-influenced vocals.
Don, who was playing in the western swing band, Jump in the Saddle, soon approached the then-21-year-old Chris, newly arrived in Chicago, with the idea of producing some country demos together. “Among other songs, we recorded That’s the Way Love Goes, thinking it was a forgotten song,” Chris recalls, “then Merle Haggard did it a year later. So much for that idea!”
Their paths continued to cross as Don filled in as utility player in Special Consensus, subbing on every instrument but banjo. Chris says, “Don and I have long been on the same wavelength with our taste in bluegrass and country music, and I have always been a huge admirer of the wide range of all he does from bluegrass to jazz. I’m thrilled after all these years to finally play some duo shows with him.”
We caught up to the duo for an intimate concert June 19 at Seman Violins in Skokie, IL, just north of Chicago. A year ago, Chris and Don were the first act without a fiddle to perform in the 60-seat listening room here, but since then bluegrass has become a regular fixture. The professional sound and lighting, friendly staff, and walls decorated with a museum-quality collection of fiddles make it a lovely new place to hear traditional music.
Chris’ quick wit was immediately on display as he remarked they had no set list, just a “memorandum of understanding,” a joke ripped from that day’s headlines. They started with a lively Jim & Jesse duet and moved through a range of material, from Don’s breathtaking take on a Merle Haggard classic to Chris’ moving original songs.
Don took a solo turn on One More Love Song, a Leon Russell song by way of Don’s hero Sam Bush, and The Song Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On), which displayed his absolute mastery of jazz mandolin. Chris sang Marshall Wilborn’s Blow Whistle and George Jones’ We Could Be Happy After All. Their workout on All the Ways I’m Gone was a highlight, as both leaned hard into the chugging boogie-woogie beat. They closed with a haunting “medley of one song”—Chris’ arrangement of two versions of Dark Hollow, which sounded great with Don’s soaring tenor voice.
Night Driver mandolinist Mark Stoffel’s shoes are hard to fill, but Don played with equal grace and inventiveness. David Grisman once called Don’s playing “understated, subtle, and sweet,” and that was evident this night in his astonishingly tasteful solos and fills. His incredible facility on the fingerboard goes from graceful to hard-rocking in an instant. Don is known as a jazz cat, but his first love was bluegrass, and he plays it absolutely straight.
The open textures of the duo setting let the musicianship shine. Chris’ rock-solid rhythm reminded us that his warm voice sometimes overshadows his skill on guitar. His forward-leaning rhythm propelled the songs and kept everything moving forward. The songs he usually does with the Night Drivers lost none of their impact in these spare arrangements. And the ease with which these two gentlemen interacted, both musically and personally, meant that even the few mishaps were completely charming.
Look for Chris and Don’s upcoming appearances if you enjoy tasteful music delivered with love, skill, and a fair amount of wisecracks. They’ll return to the Chicago area on November 14 at the Friendly Tap in Berwyn, and are available for select dates. For booking contact [email protected]
This new duo has been a long time coming, but is definitely worth the wait!
