Midland Strip Down ‘Drinkin’ Problem,’ ‘Fourteen Gears’ for New Acoustic EP

Midland took their name from a Dwight Yoakam song (“Fair to Midland”), and they nod to the neo-traditionalist once again in the title of a new acoustic EP. Guitars, Couches, Etc., Etc., an allusion to Yoakam’s 1986 album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc, features bare-bones renditions of some of the country trio’s songs.

Hits like “Drinkin’ Problem,” “Burn Out,” and “Cheatin’ Songs” get the stripped-down treatment, along with the early fan favorite “Fourteen Gears” and the Let It Roll standout “Fast Hearts and Slow Towns.” Band members Mark Wystrach, Cameron Duddy, and Jess Carson recorded the songs remotely during quarantine, and Duddy painted the EP’s cover art.

“The title is a bit tongue-in-cheek, with reference to a seminal album that largely influenced this band cut against the strange reality that we’ve all found ourselves living these last few month,” Wystrach said in a statement. “It was medicinal to pick these songs back up and re-interpret them in a new way, both recording-wise and in the arrangements and colorings.”

Midland have been active online since the live-music industry ground to a halt, with the members offering tours of their homes, fielding questions from fans, and playing songs. The group is currently slated to return to a live stage in August as one of the headliners of the Headwaters Country Jam in Three Forks, Montana.

Wystrach, meanwhile, guests on Mike and the Moonpies’ new tribute album to Gary Stewart, duetting with Mike Harmeier on the Touch of You track “Smooth Shot of Whiskey.”