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NASHVILLE BREAKOUTS: MIDLAND

INTERVIEW BY HOLLY GLEASON

With their lush harmonies, masterful guitar work and classic song sense, Midland—lead singer Mark Wystrach, bass player/singer Cameron Duddy, and lead guitarist/singer Jess Carson- channel Byrds, Burritos, Eagles and Yoakam, with a dollop of midcareer Willie and some postmodern Buck Owens. They met—or reconnected, if you’re splitting hairs—at Duddy’s wedding, and found magic in jamming together. They now live in Dripping Springs, Tex.—the site of Nelson’s original Fourth of July Picnics—and crisscross the country, playing their neoclassic country for hipsters and hayseeds alike. The smooth “Drinking Problem” unapologetically embraces the hillbilly screw-up ethos of having no problem getting adult beverages down, while “Electric Rodeo” bristles with banjo and brio and their “Nothing New Under the Neon” evokes the post-Urban Cowboy malaise that made Eddie Rabbit and Johnny Lee jukebox heroes. Given their big personalities, deep record collections and an aromatic whiff of “Oh, yeah” bravado, we dispensed with the traditional “Tell about when you...” interrogation and went right for the hard stuff with a series of one-or-the-other choices.

WARNING: The decisions made are clearly the trio’s own—and no country icons were injured in the creation of this dialogue.
You guys sure know your old-school, hard-core country music.
JC: Thank you.
MW: Well, we’ve been listening for a long time.
CD: And playing it too. Even before we were in this band.
You’ve got deep roots, so we’re gonna play one of the great bar games. Haggard or Jones?
MW: Merle Haggard or George Jones?
Yes.
JC: Just one?
Yes.
CD: That’s not fair.
But that’s the question; you can only have one. Who do you take, Merle Haggard or George Jones?
CD: Am I on a desert island? If so it’s The Hag, it has to be. He was a real outlaw—and not just because he could grow a beard. “Mama Tried” might have to be one of my favorite guitar intros ever. Mark and I used to cover “Silver Wings” in our first band a decade ago; we still do today. However, George Jones is a country god. He created the modern country music “star.” I’m just more Hag than No Show.
JC: Impossible.
MW: Nobody twanged like The Possum—“Treasure of Love”
and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” are two of my all-time favorites. But Merle had the bigger impact on me. Merle was uniquely “Merle” and fully explored what that was throughout his career. “Misery & Gin,” “Things Aren’t Funny Anymore” and “That’s the Way Love Goes” are perfect songs. That voice, the controlled pain and joy it exuded... Never be another Merle.
SCORE:
Haggard, two; Jones, zero; one abstaining
Waylon or Willie?
MW: These are impossible. Willie’s guitar tone, songwriting and delivery have impacted not just who I am as an artist, but my life. He’s the ultimate hippie cowboy; how many times do I catch myself saying, “What would Willie do?” My parents’ favorite of all time is Waylon, and they saw him at JD’s in Phoenix in the mid ’60s when he was just getting going in his residency there. I grew up listening to the house band at my family’s place play “Amanda,” “Luckenbach, Texas” and “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean.” “Amanda” was one of the first songs I learned, and I used to do my best to impersonate Waylon’s mournful, rugged growl. Dreaming My Dreams is one of my favorite albums. They are both massively important to me. Don’t make me pick.
JC: Willie, because his style of “jazzy” country is so influential to me.
CD: This is cruel. Why would you make me do this? It boils down to my favorite albums for each artist. For Waylon, it’s Dreaming My Dreams. For Willie, it's Stardust. Put a gun to my head, I’m picking Waylon.
SCORE:
Willie, one; Waylon, one; one abstaining
Dolly or Loretta?
JC: Also incredibly difficult, but I’ll say Dolly because I also love her movies.
CD: I’m going Dolly. Dolly would have been my wife if I was around back then to court her. I would have stopped at nothing.
MW: Grew up watching Dolly’s movies, and my mom and sisters adored her. Plus, “Jolene” is a perfect song. But, Loretta is the one who has the power to take me away and haunt me.
SCORE:
Dolly, two; Loretta, one
Tanya Tucker or Taylor Swift?
JC: Tanya, because “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane” makes me cry every time.
CD: Come on! “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane”? I have to go with T.T.
MW: Tanya Tucker, plain and simple.
SCORE:
Tanya Tucker, three; Taylor Swift, zero
Gram Parsons or Emmylou Harris?
CD: Emmy. She did more for me. I love Gram, I do, but I think I liked the projects he was in with other people more than what he did solo. Emmy could stand on her own, so I'll pick her.
MW: Gram Parsons. His laidback, heart-worn-on-his-sleeve, California take on country is one of the reasons we started Midland.
JC: Shoot, I’ll say Emmylou just because she’s been so involved in great music for so long. She’s an archivist of great songs.
SCORE:
Emmylou, two; Gram, one
Dwight or Buck?
MW: Dwight. No one was more rock & roll-cool and owned it more than Dwight Yoakam. We opened for him a few months back, and he still absolutely kills. We named our band after his song “Fair to Midland” off Population Me. From his stripped down, rocking version of Johnny Horton’s “Honky Tonk Man” to his Southwestern-invoking “Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room” to his highly emotional and cinematic“ Ain’t That Lonely Yet,” he’s got the diversity. But that voice? That always makes it unmistakably “Dwight.”
JC: Dammit, I’ll say Dwight, because he was like a handbook for us on how to play balls-to-the-wall honky-tonk music, and also how to dress.
CD: Yeah, Dwight was my bridge to country music, coming from a California rock & roll family. So, I go with The Hat.
SCORE:
Dwight, three; Buck, zero.
JC: Stop it.
CD: Yeah, please.
MW:Don’t taunt her. I think she can do this for a really long time.
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