The guys in Midland have chosen to make their homes outside of Nashville, like many of their heroes in country music, including Willie Nelson, George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard (when he was alive). While living in the Austin, Texas, area has had a definite influence in their sound and their style, lead guitarist Jess Carson says, “I think that we were really conscious to come out and not just be Texas country and not just be Nashville country. We didn’t think that it would serve us to paint ourselves into a corner like, you know, we’re this specific thing, we’re the antithesis of Nashville or whatever.”
One reason Midland will always be influenced by more than just Texas is because Jess says, “You can move to Austin but you can’t escape the Nashville music business. There’s no way that [the legends] extradited their entire business to Austin. It just didn’t have the infrastructure to do that. So Nashville is country music and Texas is country music and we’re very proud to be a part of both. So I think our sound is very much informed by both places.”
So while Midland’s current single, “Mr. Lonely,” has been described as “a Texas dance hall-inspired tune in the spirit of Eddie Rabbitt” (Rolling Stone), if you listen to their latest album, Let It Roll, you’ll also hear influences from Nashville, Bakersfield and beyond.
Midland – difference living in Austin :45
Jess Carson – “I think that we were really conscious to come out and not just be Texas country and not just be Nashville country. We didn’t think that it would serve us to paint ourselves into a corner like, you know, we’re this specific thing, we’re the antithesis of Nashville or whatever. But, do we have tons of outlaw influences? Yes. Do we have tons of Nashville influences? Yeah, in the same way that like, those guys … I mean, you can move to Austin but you can’t escape the Nashville music business. There’s no way that they extradited their entire business to Austin. It just didn’t have the infrastructure to do that. So Nashville is country music and Texas is country music and we’re very proud to be a part of both. So I think our sound is very much informed by both places.”