In some ways, music doesn’t get much more modest or minimalist than it is in the hands of The Civil Wars, a duo comprising California-to-Nashville transplant Joy Williams and her Alabaman partner, John Paul White. They travel without a backup band, and on their first full-length album, "Barton Hollow," the bare-bones live arrangements that fans will hear at The Ark are fleshed out with just the barest of acoustic accoutrements. Each song is an intimate conversation, and no third wheels are going to interrupt that gorgeous, haunting hush. The Civil Wars' “Poison & Wine” isn’t just their breakout song. It’s also a thematic declaration of intent for this utterly complementary odd couple, encapsulating everything suggested in the duo’s name when it comes to exploring the conflicts that arise as part of couplehood. Speaking of which: They aren’t a couple. But they’re far from insulted if you mistake them for an "item" in the storied tradition of the Swell Season, Richard and Linda Thompson, or other famous duos whose on-again, off-again relationships offstage complicated their stage relations. "A lot of people think that we’re married, and I think that’s actually quite flattering, to be honest,” says White. “Because we don’t want people to think that we’re up here acting and feigning the emotions that we write and sing about and show on stage.