Midland
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Midland are a Dripping Springs, Texas-based neotraditional country trio consisting of Mark Wystrach (lead vocals and guitar), Jess Carson (guitar and vocals) and Cameron Duddy (bass guitar and vocals), who discovered their musical chemistry at Duddy's Jackson Hole wedding in 2013 and went on to earn two Grammy nominations with their debut single "Drinkin' Problem," build one of country music's most devoted traditionalist fanbases, and release their 2026 album "Stages" while preparing for a co-headlining fall tour with Clint Black and a support run with Kacey Musgraves.
Current Tour & Setlist
Midland's "Stages Tour" is running through 2026 with summer dates including a show in Bakersfield, California on August 16, followed by seven dates opening for Kacey Musgraves on her "Middle of Nowhere Tour" starting August 20 in Chicago, and a co-headlining eight-night fall run with Clint Black kicking off October 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and hitting Indianapolis, Camdenton, Missouri, Louisville, Auburn, Alabama, Lynchburg, Virginia, Durham, North Carolina, and Glen Allen, Virginia before wrapping. The tour also includes a slot at the Tampa Pig Jig on October 17 alongside Thomas Rhett and Kameron Marlowe, and fans can expect a setlist featuring "Drinkin' Problem," "Burn Out," "Mr. Lonely," "Make a Little," "Up in Texas," and new material from "Stages."
Early Life
Mark Wystrach was born December 17, 1979 in Sonoita, Arizona, and raised on a cattle ranch south of Tucson where his parents owned a country music venue and introduced him to live music from an early age, though his path to professional musicianship wound through a University of Arizona degree, a European modeling career that landed him campaigns for Dior and other major brands, and acting roles including a recurring part in the soap opera Passions before music finally took over. Jess Carson grew up on a farm outside a small town in Oregon's Pacific Northwest valley where his family grew Christmas trees, strawberries, and raspberries, with his father and sister both musicians who put a guitar in his hands early and surrounded him with country music, while Cameron Duddy grew up as the son of a cameraman in Los Angeles, where he developed his eye for visual storytelling and built a career as a music video director working with Bruno Mars on "Uptown Funk" and "24K Magic" and with Britney Spears before eventually following his deeper love of country music.
Career Highlights
The three future bandmates crossed paths separately in Los Angeles through overlapping music circles, and it was at Duddy's wedding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in August 2013 that all three landed in the same place for the first time, with Wystrach and Carson arriving a week early as groomsmen and spending those days playing songs on the porch of Carson's cabin until the musical chemistry between all three became impossible to ignore. Six months later Duddy called the others to record, they drove to Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Texas, for ten days and walked out as a band, formed officially in Dripping Springs, Texas, signed with Big Machine Records, and released their debut single "Drinkin' Problem" in 2017, which earned them two Grammy nominations and introduced their pedal steel harmonies, vintage Bakersfield sound, and classic Texas honky-tonk aesthetic to a country radio audience hungry for exactly that. Their debut album "On the Rocks" reached number two on the Billboard Country Albums chart, they followed it with "Let It Roll" in 2019 and then signed with Rounder Records for the 2022 album "The Last Resort," and in 2026 released the album "Stages," which includes the collaboration "Up in Texas" with Clint Black, while the band continues to build one of the most devoted neotraditional country fanbases of its generation.
Family & Personal Life
Wystrach is married to Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney and the couple have two children, welcoming their first child in late 2019 and their second son in December 2021. His sister Alex Flanagan is a well-known NBC Sports television personality. Carson closed his men's and women's vintage clothing retail store in Portland, Oregon, to pursue music full time when Midland formed, a sacrifice that reflects the commitment all three members brought to the band from its earliest days. Duddy, whose wedding at a Jackson Hole ranch catalyzed the band's formation, married photographer Harper Smith, and the three men have spoken consistently in interviews about the genuine friendship and creative trust at the core of their partnership as the foundation that makes the music possible.
Awards
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