From North Hollywood’s Palomino Club to Texas’ holy trinity of New Braunfels’ Gruene Hall, Pasadena’s Gilley’s, and Austin’s Broken Spoke; The Last Resort to The Sonic Ranch and beyond, GRAMMY-nominated retro nuevo trio Midland have always understood the forces that drive the cattlemen, landmen, line workers, farmers and hell raisers who make country music so viscerally alive.
They’ll deliver another signature dose of “retro country eloquence” (The New York Times), paying homage, leaning in, and having some fun on 10-track album, Stages, out June 12 via Blue Highway Records. Pre-add / pre-order / pre-save HERE.
“We’ve gone so many places and done so many things,” shares bassist / vocalist Cameron Duddy, “I think we got to that place in the road where we wanted to pull it all together. The title is really a tribute to all the places where we’ve made our stand, but it’s also about all the phases and stages we’ve been through to get here.”
“And the more you dig into country’s roots, the more there is to work with,” adds frontman Mark Wystrach. “We’ve always had real respect for the original Texas and California country, so this album lets us pull all that through the songs we’ve written and found to really focus on what matters to us.”
Produced by Trent Willmon (Cody Johnson), Stages is a sinewy collection of songs laced with fiddle and soaked in the kind of pedal steel that gets buckles polished and dancefloors full – longing in places, back-beat forward in others. These are songs to drown in your beer or howl at the moon to.
Whether a barnstorming take on The SteelDrivers (and Gary Allan’s) “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey,” the name’n’location-checking reel“Up In Texas,” which enlists no less than Killin’ Time icon Clint Black, or closing high plains requiem and elegy for a cowboy,“Vaquero,” Midland inhabits these songs with a native ease.
“Nashville, Texas, California, everywhere in between; we’ve been in a pick-up, then a van and finally a bus – it’s all in these songs,” says guitarist / vocalist Jess Carson. “The road dust, sweat, music listened to, it all seeps into who we are and what we do.”
Stages Tracklist
- Marlboro Man (Dean Dillon, Tim Nichols, Josh Thompson)*
- One Day You Won’t (Seth Ennis, Mike Robinson, Matt Roy)*
- Shooting Memories With Tequila (Ryan Beaver, Joe Clemmons, Mike Walker)*
- Walk A Mile (Carson Chamberlain, Wyatt McCubbin, Michael White)*
- Glass Half Empty (Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell)*
- I Wish You Would (with Mackenzie Carpenter) (Mackenzie Carpenter, Jonathan Hutcherson, Jamie Moore)^
- Up In Texas (feat. Clint Black) (Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy, Josh Osborne, Bryan Simpson)%
- Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey (Michael Henderson, Chris Stapleton)*
- Drunk Enough (Jess Carson, Mark Wystrach, Nathan Barlowe, Jamie Moore)*
- Vaquero (Joseph Patton, Brett Sheroky, Dan Wilson)
Giving fans another surprise preview of the project tonight, “Shooting Memories With Tequila” arrives at midnight ET. The sorrow-drowning two step joins early tastes “Marlboro Man,” “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey,” and “I Wish You Would (with Mackenzie Carpenter)” – pre-add / pre-save HERE.
On the road this spring and summer, the hard touring progressive country band will bring Stages to fans around the world, headlining stateside and throughout Europe, including a performance at The American Rodeo Semi-Finals at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX this month. For more information and tour dates, visit midlandofficial.com/tour.
MIDLAND 2026 TOUR DATES
5/7: Corpus Christie, TX – Corpus Rodeo
5/22: Arlington, TX – Globe Life Field
6/6: Nashville, TN – CMA Fest 2026
6/13: Driggs, ID – Ridgeview Pro Rodeo
6/19: Grolloo, NLD – Holland International Blues Festival 2026
6/20: Copenhagen, DK –Tivoli Gardens
6/22: Munich, DE – Backstage Werk
6/24: Paris, FR – Alhambra
6/26: Arendel, Norway – Taste of Country
6/27: Interlaken, CH – Trucker & Country Festival 2026
7/16: Bakersfield, CA – Dignity Health Theater
7/17: Costa Mesa, CA – The Pacific Amphitheatre
7/18: Cabazon, CA – Morongo Casino Resort and Spa
7/21: Sacramento, CA – Cal Expo
7/24: Cardwell, MT – Headwaters Country Jam 2026
7/25: Sundance, UT – Sundance Mountain Resort
8/1: Sidney, MT – Richland County Fair & Rodeo
8/6: Sandpoint, ID – Festival at Sandpoint
8/24: Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
8/29: Edmonton, AB – Boots and Hearts West

