Midland knew heading into the weekend in Las Vegas that they were the New Vocal Duo or Group winner’s for this year’s ACM Awards.  Mark joked backstage at the awards that the ACM’s were going to stop letting people know they won ahead of time, because he admits they came in pretty hot to Vegas.

Midland is on their third single, “Burn Out,” and early on, some critics questioned the authenticity of them as a real country band, but Mark Wystrach says winning an award like ACM New Vocal Duo or Group doesn’t really make them feel vindicated because he says, “We don’t care about that, honestly.  We care about the award, that’s great.  That’s always wonderful to be recognized by your peers, but [those articles,] that’s just some fool trying to get click bait because, you know, he’s gotta pay rent at his mom’s house.”

For anyone who would question the group’s authenticity, all they have to do is see Midland perform live.  As Mark points out, “You can’t walk on stage and do what we do if you haven’t paid your debts and spent the time working on your craft.  And the authenticity, I don’t know what that means.”

You can catch Midland out on the road this summer on the festival circuit, and this fall they’ll be opening for Thomas Rhett on his Life Changes Tour.

Midland – validating authenticity  :25

Mark Wystrach – “We don’t care about that, honestly.  We care about the award, that’s great.  That’s always wonderful to be recognized by your peers, but that’s just some fool trying to get click bait because, you know, he’s gotta pay rent at his mom’s house.  So yeah, authenticity is … you can’t walk off stage …”

Cameron Duddy – “Okay, in full disclosure, I wrote that article.”

Mark – “You can’t walk on stage and do what we do if you haven’t paid your debts and spent the time working on your craft.  And the authenticity, I don’t know what that means.”