Midland Comes Full Circle On ‘Stages’ [Interview]

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Midland. Photo: Harper Smith

Midland‘s Stages, out today via Blue Highway Records, reflects both where the trio has been and where they’re headed next.

The 10-track project finds the band leaning into the traditional country sound they’ve become known for while embracing outside material more than ever before.

After more than a decade on the road together, the title itself carries a double meaning.

“It’s self-referential in terms of our own career and journey, but it’s also a literal meaning to it where we’re a live band,” Jess Carson of the band tells MusicRow. “We’ve basically been on tour for over 10 years, and we’ve been on a lot of stages, and we’ve been through a lot of stages.”

While the trio has traditionally named albums after songs from the track list, Stages marks a departure from that approach.

That evolution also extended to the songs Midland chose to record. According to Carson, Stages features more outside material than any of the band’s previous releases.

“This is the most outside songs we’ve taken,” he says.

For the band, though, the process of narrowing down a track list hasn’t changed. Rather than focusing on who wrote a song, Carson said they’re looking for songs that fit the overall vision of the album. “I think if it just feels like it fits in this landscape of what you’re trying to do with the album, the story that you’re trying to tell,” he says. “There’s always a lot of songs to weed through and kind of narrow down into one thought.”

 Some of those outside cuts came from some of Nashville’s most respected songwriters. Carson pointed to “Marlboro Man,” written by Dean Dillon, Tim Nichols and Josh Thompson as a standout. “If you get a Dean Dillon song, especially one that’s kind of fallen through the cracks … that was a really special one to get,” he says.

He also points to “Shooting Memories With Tequila” as an immediate favorite. “Ryan Beaver sent that one over basically right after writing it. It was just an iPhone recording, and I could definitely tell that song was a hit,” he says.

The album also includes “I Wish You Would,” Midland’s collaboration with Mackenzie Carpenter. According to Carson, the partnership came together after Carpenter brought the song to the band.

“She was the one that pitched us that song to do a collab,” he says. “We loved the song. It felt like something that was very much in our wheelhouse, kind of this Conway Twitty vibe, soul-country thing.”

Since then, the song has become a favorite to perform together whenever the opportunity arises, most recently performing it together during CMA Fest.

“Everyone sings along with that song when we play it live,” Carson says. “It’s always fun to get to perform that one with her.”

The album’s other featured collaboration pairs Midland with one of the band’s longtime influences.

Carson said the group’s relationship with Clint Black stretches back several years, after first crossing paths at a festival and later participating in a tribute honoring the country icon.

“We’ve been able to strike up a little friendship with him. Obviously, we’re massive fans of his career and all of his songs.”

After recording “Up In Texas,” Midland invited Black to join them on the track. “Anytime that we get the opportunity to work with a legacy artist like that, you’ve got to take those opportunities.”

The collaboration won’t be a one-off, either. Midland is set to share the stage with Black on several upcoming tour dates later this year as part of an already busy schedule that also includes a European run and newly announced dates with Kacey Musgraves.

Among the songs Carson is most looking forward to playing live is “Shooting Memories With Tequila,” which he had previously singled out as one of his favorites on the album. “It’s just a really fun tempo track,” he says.

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On the other end of the spectrum is “Vaquero,” a song that leans heavily into the traditional country influences that have long informed Midland’s sound. Carson described it as “a very acoustic, stripped-back, old-style country song,” comparing it to something out of the Marty Robbins catalog. “It’s a really fun harmony song, and it has some really fun little acoustic licks to play.”

Despite embracing more outside material and bringing in collaborators, Carson said Stages ultimately feels familiar.

“I think it’s kind of a full-circle moment,” he said. “There’s definitely a through line from our first album to this one.”

Part of that connection comes from the return of elements that helped shape Midland’s earliest recordings. Carson pointed to the prominent use of fiddle throughout Stages, something fans haven’t heard as consistently from the band in recent years.

“When we very first started, we had fiddle, and then we didn’t have fiddle for a long time,” he said. “Now there’s fiddle all over it.”

For Carson, those details make the album feel reminiscent of one of the projects that introduced Midland to listeners in the first place, The Sonic Ranch.

With Stages now out, the band returns to the road later this month with upcoming stops in Idaho, California, Montana and more.

Lauryn Sink
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