It also helps that their band name was inspired by a Yoakam song, a jangly, rustic ode called “Fair to Midland” from Yoakam’s 2003 album Population Me. The cheeky word play, along with some of the best harmonies you’ll hear on mainstream radio, is what makes the LP work instead of breaking in two, the band embrace those subtle eccentricities to charming effect.īacked by Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group, with industry stallions Shane McAnally (Kacey Musgraves, Sam Hunt), Dann Huff (Brett Young, Faith Hill) and Josh Osborne (Brandy Clark, Thomas Rhett) on producer duties, whiskey-smooth lead singer Mark Wystrach, guitarist Jess Carson and bassist Cameron Duddy navigate the perfect neo-traditional lover’s wet dream. 1 hit ⎯⎯ squares away the album’s general stylistic cohesiveness. “Drinkin’ Problem,” from which the troubadours draw the name for the record ⎯⎯ “people sayin’ that I’ve hit rock bottom just ’cause I’m living on the rocks,” they playfully smirk on their first No. It’s a fast paced smorgasbord of western tunes marinated and smoked underneath twinkling neon signs from a backwoods honky-tonk. Whether you’ve toiled away on the Texas circuit, pouring out your blood, sweat and tears night after night, for a decade or snagged the winner’s cup on some singing show, the ultimate test is the music itself: does it hold up? Is it rooted in country’s threaded, well-worn, all-by-my-lonesome ethos? And lastly, does it possess a keen eye for the future? The trio’s debut record, On the Rocks, ticks all the right boxes: situated between Dwight Yoakam and Brooks & Dunn (“Nothing New Under the Neon” calls back to B&D’s 1991 hit “Neon Moon,” as well as Leann Rimes’ similarly-titled “Nothing New Under the Moon”) but flowing with enough boot-scooting razzle-dazzle to feel accessible for today’s growing Generation Z. Backstory is backstory is backstory. Facts were left out, misinterpreted, rearranged, and that’s fine and dandy.

Some writers puffed out their chests and turned blue in the face pontificating on what a real “backstory” in country should be. Boy, oh, boy, Midland sure have ruffled some feathers.

Burn out midland writers