Midland. Photos courtesy of At Large Magazine.

In just over a year, Midland members Mark Wystrach, Cameron Duddy, and Jess Carson ushered in a sterling, neo-traditional sound, seemingly custom-made to appeal to both the bottle-breaking, rowdy barflies they performed for in the honky-tonks of Texas, as well as fans who embrace country music’s more progressive sound.

Their breakthrough single, “Drinkin’ Problem,” with its rustic, authentic rendering, has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and became the trio’s first No. 1 song, off their debut Big Machine Label Group album On The Rocks. On Spotify, the group has gained approximately 1.6 million monthly listeners.

“Drinkin’ Problem” earned the trio a nomination for Single of the Year at the upcoming CMA Awards, a nomination that also honors producers Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne, as well as mix engineer Justin Niebank.

Midland is nominated in two additional CMA categories, including New Artist of the Year, as well as Vocal Group of the Year.

“This year, we’ve been touring non-stop,” Wystrach tells MusicRow, not long after the nominations were announced. “We weren’t really aware that the [CMA] nominations were coming out because we were so busy. It put fuel in our tank and was a rewarding day. All the work you are doing is being recognized and noticed and it will help us to continue to accomplish our goals.”

They do have a few predictions for what will happen should their names be called as the winner in any of those categories.

“I bet Cameron will be a sobbing mess,” Wystrach adds. “Jess will probably take over, perhaps give one of the best speeches in CMA music history and I’ll be emotional, too. After that, Jess will probably crack open a nice bottle of pinot grigio or even perhaps a nice oaky buttery chardonnay, or a sauvignon blanc and after that who knows? Just getting nominated is such a big thing that, winners or losers, we’ll be partying like winners no matter what.”

Later this month, the Texas trio will set out on their own set of headlining dates for the Electric Rodeo Tour. Most recently, the trio has been performing for fans as part of Thomas Rhett’s Life Changes Tour.

“On paper it maybe seems improbable,” says Carson. “But Thomas Rhett has worked really hard to curate an amazing following, and a fun crowd that is literally there just to consume music.”

Carson adds, “For us it’s exciting to expose an all-new audience and even a younger, more pop-oriented audience to our music and they are loving it.”

Given the trio’s hectic schedule, efficiency was top of mind when it came to shooting the laid-back, smoky video for their latest single “Burn Out,” which was shot in one take at iconic honky tonk Billy Bob’s in Texas.

“It’s hard to tear yourself away from touring to do much else, much less direct and make a music video,” says Duddy, whose music video director credits have also included recent work for Bruno Mars (“24K Magic,” “Versace On The Floor”) and Jennifer Lopez (“Ain’t Your Mama”).

“It was designed to be an easy day of shooting, like one location and one setup,” continues Duddy, who collaborated with director TK McKamy on the video. “When you are doing a one-shot video, it’s all about the pre-production. It was organized chaos, as opposed to just flat-out chaos as most videos end up being. We’ve played Billy Bob’s a half-dozen times, and they gave us carte blanche to do pretty much whatever we wanted there. With their help, this whole thing came together and it is very authentic to our story and our sensibilities.”

Between tour dates, the trio has been piecing together their follow-up album. The trio has been in studios in Nashville and Texas, working on new album that Wystrach says is “75 percent in the can. We just spent three days down in Austin recording vocals.”

“We are chomping at the bit to put out new music,” he says. “If it was up to us, we would have released a new album at the end of this year, but ‘Burn Out’ is getting really strong reaction at radio. Hopefully we will put out our next album not long after.”

The group is again working with mega-writers and producers Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne for the followup album, and folded in new collaborations with writers including Marv Green, Bob DiPiero, Rhett Akins and Liz Rose, among others.

Asked how their sound continues to grow, Carson quips, “We are developing. A lot of the album is about what works live. We’ve gotten our own [band] guys into the studio. In Nashville that’s not the most usual thing, to get your road band into the studio with you, but we did. We used session musicians, too. It is very much a continuation of On The Rocks and we feel like it’s maturing. We have experience under our belt. We all wear one belt—it’s a three-person belt.”

The Elektra Music Group has officially launched and installed a leadership team that’s poised to nurture the stand-alone group’s stellar roster of artists, and unique labels including Elektra, Fueled By Ramen (FBR), Roadrunner, Low Country Sound, and Black Cement Records. Elektra Music Group roster includes artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Sturgill Simpson, Zac Brown Band, Brandi Carlile, Fitz and the Tantrums, Paramore, Slipknot, Panic! At The Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Kaleo, Gojira, and others.

Following recent appointments to the A&R and Promotions teams, the remainder of Elektra Music Group’s leadership team includes:

Adam Abramson, Head of Sales & Streaming
Chris Brown, Head of Marketing
Tim Davideit, Head of Digital Marketing
Anne Declemente, Head of A&R Admin
Cathy Donovan, Head of Label Operations
Annie Flook, Head of Tour Marketing
Glenn Fukushima, Head of Publicity
Ana Lenuzza Ross, Head of Film, TV & Video Game Licensing
Mandee Mallone, Head of Video Production
Margo Scott, Head of Business & Legal Affairs
Suzy Yoder, Head of DSP & Video Promotion

They will report to label Co-Presidents, Mike Easterlin and Gregg Nadel.

Said Easterlin and Nadel: “We are so excited to call each and every one of these brilliant people part of the Elektra family. We’re already feeling the creative energy and collaborative spirit that will make Elektra a special place where we discover, nurture and develop game-changing artists. We’re grateful to everyone who has so generously helped us prepare for the launch of this new adventure.”

Including the leadership team, the 60-plus member Elektra Music Group staff builds out the company’s A&R, Artist Development, Business & Legal Affairs, International, Marketing, Promotion, Publicity, Sales & Streaming, and Video departments.

Recent announcements revealed two key Elektra Music Group A&R appointments: Will McDonald, Vice President, A&R and Marketing; and Shawn Cohen, Senior Director, A&R—as well as three key appointments in the promotion department: Melanie Scull, Vice President of Promotion; Myra Dehais, SVP of Promotion-West Coast/Alternative; and Jason Martin, VP of Promotion/Triple A.

Stuart Dill Expands Leadership Role At Vanderbilt

Stuart Dill, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) Director of the Office of Engagement, has been named Sr. VP, Medical Center Engagement with an expanded leadership role, including oversight of VUMC’s Strategic Marketing Department.

Prior to joining VUMC, Dill was a 30-year music industry veteran, serving as an artist manager on Nashville’s Music Row. During his career in the entertainment industry he managed artists including Minnie Pearl, Freddy Fender, Dwight Yoakam, Jo Dee Messina, Rodney Crowell, The Wreckers, Sister Hazel, Laura Bell Bundy, Point of Grace, Billy Ray Cyrus, and many others. He also authored the novel, Murder on Music Row, that won the Independent Book Publishers (IPPY) Award’s Gold Medal in 2012.

650 AM WSM To Host Music For Kids Event In November

650 AM WSM will host its first Music for Kids event on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Studio A in the Grand Ole Opry House from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Presented by Springer Mountain Farms, Music for Kids is a day-long family event packed with activities designed to make music accessible and fun for youth from all over Nashville. The event centers around providing children ages 5-16 with free, age-appropriate music lessons from local professionals and opportunities to engage, learn, and get inspired in fun new ways.

Children will choose the instrument they would most like to explore– voice, violin, guitar, bass, piano, drums, mandolin, banjo and more – when they sign up online. Registration for these free lessons are open now and must be reserved in advance via wsmonline.com. Lesson slots are expected to fill up fast, so early registrations are advised. A guardian is required to attend with the child receiving lessons.

Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor will be on hand to read from his new children’s book Lorraine.

True Artist Management’s Philip Peters Honored By Anderson University

Pictured (L-R): Philip Peters, Recipient of Anderson University’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award, and John S. Pistole, President of Anderson University. Photo: Anderson University

Philip Peters of True Artist Management, founder of Restore Haiti and a 2002 graduate of Anderson University, received the school’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award distinction late last week. The honor comes post nearly two decades in the music industry alongside his development of Restore Haiti, an organization that feeds, educates and provides medical care for over 1,000 students in the country of Haiti.

Anderson University has a history of being the roots to those in the music industry whose alumni include Bill and Gloria Gaither, Steven Curtis Chapman, Sandi Patty, Sidewalk Prophets and the 2018 Music Alum Award winner, Jon Mclaughlin.