Midland

Midland, a Texas-based trio devoted to neo-traditional country, revives the glossy, neon-drenched textures of 1980s country music and thereby advances from neighborhood bar performers to arena headliners. Outfitted in Nudie suits and denim, the group projects the image of artists lifted from an earlier decade, a perception reinforced by the relaxed momentum of their 2017 breakthrough single, “Drinkin’ Problem.” Rather than functioning as simple revivalists, Midland reworks vintage motifs and themes, reshaping them for contemporary streaming listeners; that calculated nostalgia produced results when “Drinkin’ Problem” reached the country Top Ten, earned Grammy nominations, and set the stage for later albums Let It Roll (2019), The Last Resort: Greetings From (2022), and Barely Blue (2024), each demonstrating the band’s ability to refresh retro sounds with present-day appeal.

The group’s origins trace to California. There, Cameron Duddy built a career directing music videos in Los Angeles and received an MTV Video Music Award for his work on Bruno Mars’ 2012 hit “Locked Out of Heaven,” while continuing to perform music in his free time. Through those performances he met Oregon native Jess Carson; the pair played together in a Los Angeles band until Carson left the city, after which Duddy encountered Mark Wystrach, then employed as an underwear model and actor. The three musicians united at Duddy’s wedding in August 2013, when Carson and Wystrach, serving as groomsmen, arrived a week early and began jamming with the groom; shortly afterward they committed to forming a band. Following Duddy’s honeymoon, the trio moved to Texas and established Dripping Springs as their base.

Midland joined Big Machine in March 2016 and issued a self-titled debut EP that October. The EP’s standout track, the silky “Drinkin’ Problem,” began ascending Billboard’s country charts in 2017 and reached number three on Country Airplay that summer, ultimately earning platinum certification. Their first full-length release, On the Rocks, appeared September 22, 2017; the band supported it by touring with Little Big Town and Thomas Rhett throughout 2018. The album remained on the charts into the following year, spawning additional singles “Make a Little” and “Burn Out,” the latter also peaking at number three. By year’s end “Drinkin’ Problem” had secured Grammy nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance, though it won neither award.

“Mr. Lonely,” issued in February 2019, served as the lead single for the second album, Let It Roll, which followed in August 2019. The record debuted at number one on the Billboard Country Album chart and number 16 on the Billboard 200. Neither “Mr. Lonely” nor the follow-up “Cheatin’ Songs” entered the Country Airplay Top 20, instead reaching peaks of 23 and 26, respectively.

In March 2021 the group released The Sonic Ranch, a set of recordings made in 2014 shortly after their formation, packaged with a documentary detailing their early days. Later that year they issued the EP The Last Resort, featuring the single “Sunrise Tells the Story,” which previewed their third album, The Last Resort: Greetings From, released in May 2022 after the title-track single. On the 2024 album Barely Blue the band explored masculinity and post-breakup loneliness through the charting singles “Lucky Sometimes” and “Old Fashioned Feeling.”