It’s all a facade, and the fact that they keep trying to ram Midland’s “authenticity” down our throats makes me never want to hear their music again. Instead Midland is a machination of the big Music Row industrial complex, no different than most major label artists, is signed to Scott Borcetta’s Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, et al), with Shane McAnally-the Max Martin of country music (Sam Hunt, Old Dominion, et al)-writing the songs, producing the music, and pulling the strings behind-the-scenes. But unfortunately, this is just not true. The band’s publicists want us to believe Midland is a collective of road wearied Texas country lifers who are finally getting their big break and deserve to be elevated in stature due to their raging authenticity and cowboy-esque ruggedness, and they have the photos to prove it. Ultimately you have to boil everything back down to the music and ask yourself, “Is it good?”Īnd it’s under this philosophy that I landed on the conclusion that when it comes to the music of Midland, the answer is, “Yes, it’s good.” It’s not great, but graded against its peers in the mainstream and housed on major labels, Midland is a really solid, throwback-sounding country band that makes you hopeful for the future of the genre and radio.īut as time has gone on, I find myself disliking these dudes more and more because I can’t beat back the obvious reality that we’re being misled about these guys. Some are black, Hispanic, multi-racial, non gender specific, whatever. Some artists are from rich families, some from poor. SCM featured a country artist from Iran recently. Saving Country Music commonly feature artists from the northern regions of the United States, from Canada, Australia, the British Isles, Europe. They’ll join Thomas Rhett’s Life Changes Tour in September in Bangor, ME.Look, I am a staunch proponent of the idea that anyone, anywhere can make good country music, and we all owe it to the individual artists to judge the music on its own merit first before ever considering what type of back story or port of origin the artist happens to hail from. Midland is currently up for Group Video of the Year at the 2018 CMT Music Awards on June 6. The two-time Grammy nominees are currently on a nationwide summer tour and will return to perform at Billy Bob’s on June 2, following two sold-out nights at Texas’ oldest dancehall, Gruene Hall. Named New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year at this year’s ACM Awards, Midland also posted a behind-the-scenes video about the filming of “Burn Out” on Facebook. “‘Burn Out’ proves these songwriters can turn Nashville tropes on its head thanks to whip-smart lyricism,” said Entertainment Weekly of the song, while Rolling Stone Country raved, “The track smolders with a decidedly Nineties country feel, buoyed by aching three-part vocal harmonies and shimmering pedal steel, with the occasional bit of clever wordplay (‘The smokin’ memory that ain’t nothin’ but ashes’) that never feels forced or gratuitous.” 1 “Drinkin’ Problem” and the Top 15 hit “Make a Little.” Written by the band with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, “Burn Out” is the new single off the group’s acclaimed debut album ON THE ROCKS. As beer bottles clank all around them – and a waitress gets into a fateful fight with her man – Midland re-create “Burn Out” in one seamless take. The neon signs, two-stepping couples and Wrangler jeans evoke the Urban Cowboy scene of the Seventies, with patrons tipping back more than a few longnecks. To capture a specific barroom vibe for the video, the Texas trio of Duddy, Mark Wystrach and Jess Carson set up their instruments in the center of the dance floor at the famous Billy Bob’s honky-tonk in Fort Worth, TX. Midland mix the vintage style of Urban Cowboy with the ambitious filmmaking of Goodfellas in the music video for their latest single “Burn Out.” Premiering today and available everywhere now, the video, directed by TK McKamy and Midland’s own Cameron Duddy, was filmed in one continuous shot, calling to mind the legendary kitchen-to-club scene in Martin Scorsese’s iconic mob film.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |