Then at one event in February, 1992, a guitarist named Mark Stuart showed up, partly because he wanted to strengthen his own songwriting skills.

“People who are musicians and string players don’t normally go to these events,” Stuart said. “But I thought it would be healthy for me to get into a different environment.”

But he also wanted to meet Stacey Earle. And he did.

“We played together on stage the first night we met,” Earle said, as he accompanied her on her songs. “That was unusual for me,” she said, “but when I heard him play, I knew he would do it well.”

After the gig, they went to the closest Waffle House and plotted their future until 4 a.m. Before the year’s end, they were married.

“Since then, we can count on one hand the number of times we’ve played apart,” Earle said.

At first, it was Stuart purely as an accompanist. Then she started learning his songs. At first, he was the opening act. Then they just melded it all together. In between, to make ends meet, Earle waited on tables or Stuart join up with Stacey’s brother’s band, the Dukes. They started their own record label, Gearle Records, and eventually, the line between Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart began to blur.

By 2002 and the release of their “Must Be Live” double CD, Earle and Stuart became a full-fledged duo. “Bands can be very expensive,” Earle said, “and be very limiting.

“Mark and I can cover a lot of territory at a gig. We don’t have to have a set list. We can change anything at any time and play more to the audience.

“We’re at a point now that all I have to do is put on my capo and he knows what song I’m going to play.”

A version of this story originally appeared in Go!, the arts and entertainment section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.