Jess Carson, the lead guitarist of Midland, lives on a farm down in Texas now, with several animals, but there’s one particular family pet from his childhood that he remembers quite well because of his hungry antics. “We had a dog that was mad at us because we tried to put him on a diet,” shares Jess. “We had our own berry fields and he would go out there and just eat all the berries and was constantly running away from home. And he’d jump in the river behind our house and float into town and look for people that would feed him, and he’d basically go home with anyone that would feed him and we’d have to go find him.”
The dog’s name was Cody, and one particular time when he ran away from home, “He was gone for, like, weeks and we couldn’t find him,” says Jess, “and then someone was like, ‘Yeah, these guys got a dog that looks like your dog.’”
Jess remembers the scene when they went to go get Cody back. “We roll up on a single wide trailer. I just remember walking up to the door with my mom, she knocks on the door, the door opens and this family, they’ve got the same mats that, like, you take a nap on in grade school, they’re like yoga mats. And there’s like, I don’t know, six kids in there on these mats. And then there’s Cody and he’s got his own mat. And we’re just like, ‘That’s our dog. We’re taking him.’ And they were so … I mean, the kids are crying … like, it was like this whole thing.”
These days, rather than tracking down his runaway dog, Jess is traveling the country with Midland on their Road to the Rodeo Tour, while promoting their brand new single, “Cheatin’ Songs,” off their critically acclaimed Let It Roll album.
Midland – Jess dog story :56
Jess Carson – “We had a dog that was mad at us because we tried to put him on a diet. We had our own berry fields and he would go out there and just eat all the berries and was constantly running away from home. And he’d jump in the river behind our house and float into town and look for people that would feed him, and he’d basically go home with anyone that would feed him and we’d have to go find him. He was gone for, like, weeks and we couldn’t find him and then someone was like, ‘Yeah, these guys got a dog that looks like your dog.’ So we go, we roll up on a single wide trailer. I just remember walking up to the door with my mom, she knocks on the door, the door opens and this family, they’ve got the same mats that, like, you take a nap on in grade school, they’re like yoga mats. And there’s like, I don’t know, six kids in there on these mats. And then there’s Cody and he’s got his own mat. And we’re just like, ‘That’s our dog. We’re taking him.’ And they were so … I mean, the kids are crying … like, it was like this whole thing.”
Cameron – “It was so sad.”