Although AJ and Jayne both received accolades for their solo work, their histories became entwined after a night of impromptu duets at the Hideaway, a cozy listening room in St. Petersburg. Their voices meshed effortlessly that evening, leading to more collaborations between the two musicians. AJ began playing lap steel in Jayne’s band, while Jayne started singing harmonies on AJ’s records. Before long, a romance had blossomed alongside the pair’s ongoing collaboration, and it simply made sense to combine their individual efforts into a proper duo.

“We melded together naturally,” Jayne remembers. “We weren’t necessarily looking to form a duo, but we shared a bond because we were both still playing the bars in town, and we knew we wanted something bigger. We began playing together, and everything grew from there.”