Midland

Lead vocalist Mark Wystrach, bassist Cameron Duddy and guitarist Jess Carson originally met back in Los Angeles through the music scene. However it was at Duddy's Jackson Hole, Wyoming wedding that the trio decided to get together. "Jess and Cam used to have a band and after Jess left L.A., Cameron and I formed a band," explained Wystrach to People. "Midland came about when Cameron asked Jess and I to be groomsmen in his wedding for a week up in Jackson Hole over three years ago." "That was the first time the three of us had played music together as a trio and the result was pure magic," he added. "The commonality was our love for country music and for the harmonies which were such a huge part of it in the '70s and '80s… it took off from there."

They named themselves after the Dwight Yoakam song "Fair to Midland."

Duddy spent the first half of the 2010s directing music videos, documentaries and commercials. He and Bruno Mars directed the music clip for the latter's "Locked Out of Heaven," a six-week Hot 100 #1 in 2012-13, and also paired up again for the Hawaiian star's "24K Magic" visual. In addition, Duddy directed Fifth Harmony's "Worth It" and Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't Your Mama" promos.