I don’t know what it is but recently the Midwest seems to be haunting me. For some the area keeps coming up, songs mention it in passing, every other book I read seems to be set there… I can’t escape it. As a Brit the meaning was slightly lost on me but the more it’s mentioned and the more I read about it I get the impression ‘the Midwest’ could almost be used as a synonym for ‘home’ in many cases, not in a geographical sense (not everyone is from there, obviously) but in the feel of it. It the sort of place that seems embarrassing and archaic as you grow up there, somewhere to escape for bigger cities, exciting times, etc. Naturally then it’s also a place thick with nostalgia, thick with some form of meaning or substance that cannot be found in the superficial and unsympathetic cities. At least that’s what I think writers are often trying to convey with characters hailing from the Midwest, the sense that young narcissism and adventure gives way to a strong need to belong.
John Statz is a folk artist from Madison WI and his latest album ’Old Fashioned’ captures this feeling of nostalgia in the Midwest perfectly. Each song conjures real people with classic problems, age old American tales with narratives that last well beyond (and before) the track’s run time, including a quite brilliant cover of Frightened Rabbit’s Old Old Fashioned. Basically this is Americana at it’s very best.
‘Old Fashioned’ is scheduled for release on 24th January and can be streamed in full over at Yer Bird Records Bandcamp page right now.
P.S. US/Canadian readers (if you exist), please feel free to correct me on the Midwest thing, I could be horribly wrong.