By Abbey Cannan
Hailing from Dripping Springs, Midland closed out The Gympie Music Muster on Sunday and stopped by The Verandah Bar to talk surfing, dusty noses, vicious koalas, naked motorcycle riding, and their new album.
TX lead vocalist Mark Wystrach fronts Midland’s rich sound that is rounded out with lead guitarist/ vocalist Jess Carson and bass player/ vocalist Cameron Duddy.
And what do the three of them all have in common?
They struggle to answer a question without a joke. But with 12 flights in 14 days, it’s no wonder the trio knows how to have a laugh together.
Growing from bar band to an in-demand headliner, Midland has spent the past few years on the road selling out headline tours from coast to coast as well as getting to support some of country music’s biggest stars like Tim McGraw and Little Big Town.
The band is currently in Australia for their headlining The Last Resort Tour.
“We just arrived and we’ve got dust up our noses already. We’re out in the woods huh. It’s beautiful here,” Cameron Duddy said.
“Brisbane was great and we’re on tour with a guy named Travis Collins who’s a native to your country and a beloved artist himself.”
The trio host a country music podcast called Set It Straight: Myths and Legends, so what myths have they set straight about Australia since being here?
“We set straight the fact that koalas are not cuddly. They are vicious. Cameron tried to pet one and his whole body is now covered in scars. They’re hungry for flesh,” Jess Carson said.
Their 2 X Platinum-certified chart-topping debut Drinkin’ Problem, which offers an intentional nod to Country music reminiscent of the 1970s and 80s, earned the band their first GRAMMY Awards nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
Despite this track title, they helped design and launched their own Tequila with INSÓLITO, which you can find at select stores in Australia.
It’s branded as a tequila for those who live boldly, and it may be hard to believe the boldest thing the band has done together.
“Rode on a motorcycle naked, at full speed, in the middle of the night, lights out,” Cameron said.
I questioned the legitimacy of this event, to which Jess replied, “How do you think we got here?”
The trio was also named New Vocal Group of the Year at the 2018 ACM Awards and are bringing listeners a resurgence of their thick harmonies, sad melodies, tart lyrics and steel guitar with their latest album The Last Resort: Greetings From (Big Machine Records).
For those eager for more music, you can rest assured the band has almost too many songs to choose from for their new album.
“I think you can expect a continuation and an evolution of the sound that naturally happens as you continue to do what you do,” Mark Wystrach said.
“It tends to evolve to where we’re at in our own personal lives I feel like. And also probably evolving too with the live shows. We’re really excited to get in the studio we’ve been writing for a year and a half and we’ve got too many songs so we need to start choosing.
“You can expect it early next year. We’ll probably be releasing a couple of songs before the end of this year.”
They definitely didn’t have Noosa on their bucket list after questioning whether it was close to Tamworth, but Mark was keen to check it out.
“I’m an avid surfer and unfortunately we’re pretty tight as far as our schedules go,” he said.
“Last time we were here we got to surf a little bit in Byron Bay and that was amazing but maybe we’ll try to swing over to Noosa.
“We’re doing 12 flights in 14 days. It’s a lot but it’s important for us to get out here. Australia is our third largest market in the world.
“We’ve got a bunch of amazing fans here and we want to come out and play our music live.
“It just sounds better live and the crowds have been incredible so far.”
