A few weeks ago, lead singer Mark Wystrach from Midland revealed that he got sent home from a George Strait concert by his mother and wasn’t allowed to meet him because he had had a few too many cocktails. It turns out Mark wasn’t the only one in the band who was politely over-served that night. For reasons unknown, bassist Cameron Duddy decided to draw a teardrop tattoo under one of his eyes with a Sharpie before meeting George, which in gang and prison culture is often a symbol that you’ve killed someone.
Lead guitarist Jess Carson recalls the meet and greet and says, “(George) was very like, straight faced, and everybody was just coming up next to him and having their photo taken with him. And me and Cameron got up there,” with what Jess recalls might have been multiple Sharpie teardrops on Cameron’s face, “and (George) goes, ‘Did you let somebody draw a teardrop on your face with a Sharpie?’”
It was the one time during the meet and greet session that George became animated. Cameron suspects it’s because George has done hundreds of meet and greets in his career and met thousands of people, and he says, “Maybe the teardrop broke him out of the monotony of meeting new people.”
After hearing the story of the Sharpie prison face tat, Mark concluded, “Apparently these guys weren’t too far behind where I was, I guess.”
No, they weren’t. Fortunately the teardrop was only temporary, since prison face tats don’t exactly match the aesthetic of the band singing traditional throwback country songs like Midland’s latest single, “Cheatin’ Songs.”
Midland – George Strait teardrop tattoo :36
Jess Carson – “He was very like, straight faced, and everybody was just coming up next to him and having their photo taken with him. And me and Cameron got up there, and Cameron has a Sharpie … there was probably like multiple teardrops.”
Mark Wystrach – “Did he even focus on it?”
Jess – “He goes, ‘Did you let somebody draw a teardrop on your face with a Sharpie?’ Cameron’s like, ‘Yeah.’ (big laugh) It was like the only time he became animated.”
Mark – “Because George is probably … I get the idea that George is mischievous. I get the sense that George likes to sip the Codigo and get loose.”
Cameron Duddy – “I think that he’s been through years and years of people just wanting to introduce themselves, so, it’s nothing new for him. So maybe the teardrop broke him out of the monotony of meeting new people. I didn’t know I had it on my face at that point. I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Mark – “Apparently these guys weren’t too far behind where I was, I guess.”
Cameron – “No, no.”