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Le Monge Banquet Hall sits on a desolate stretch of Lankershim Boulevard, about three blocks south of the Metrolink tracks, and less than two miles west of Burbank Airport (formerly referred to as Bob Hope Airport from days past). The exterior of the flat multipurpose space is achingly dull, with tired Angeleno stucco, chipped brick, and a maroon awning bedecking the facade. If Le Monge’s walls could talk, they’d probably croak and grumble like Sam Elliott in his _Big Lebowski_ epilogue.
While the building’s front-of-house is the go-to location in this quadrant of North Hollywood for one’s quinceañera or Russian matrimony, the back portion also runs as an apparent senior daycare center—doctor’s office included. Indeed, Le Monge Banquet has welcomed many characters through its doors. But for many folks, like the Grammy and CMT Award-nominated country outfit, Midland, the structure that occupies 6907 Lankershim is far removed from the glory days as _The Palomino_, where country icons like Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Linda Ronstadt enlisted rowdy crowds from near and far to relish in the Honky-Tonk spirit.
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The Palomino shuttered its doors in 1995 after a steady decline following the deaths of original owners, brothers Bill and Tom Thomas. “We’re sitting in the garden where people used to do coke and smoke ciggies,” says Mark Wystrach, Midland’s lead singer. “It was like the little party zone back here.” The trio reclines in the backyard patio era, rife with sun-faded toys and unhinged feral cats. There’s a questionable stench in this industrial sector of LA’s San Fernando Valley. “Jess is getting extreme whiffs of human feces,” volunteers Wystrach, half-jokingly. Lead guitarist Jess Carson grimaces in agreement, then ponders, “I think even the Traveling Wilburys played here.” The now-defunct supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty is testament to the litany of legends which have seared the club’s name on their respective resumes.
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Thunderous roaring from the nearby runways of Burbank airport is a constant reminder that despite the venue’s strange evolution to today, The Palomino, a mecca for country music plopped in an urban jungle, was always an idiosyncrasy. “I think Dwight Yoakam would find it ironic that this place has been turned into a senior home,” reflects Cameron Duddy, the band’s bassist, who cites one of the venue’s most hallowed performers, and whose song, “Fair to Midland,” influenced the band’s appellation. A sidebar conversation ensues, in which Duddy posits, “This is considered _Hewitt_?” referring to the alleged neighborhood name designated by GoogleMaps, his face contorting as he studies his phone. “I’ve never even heard of that part of the Valley.”
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Midland is an agreeable bunch. Regaled in what one could only assume is a maelstrom of rare Wrangler, Lucchese, and the best pulls from a Lubbock thrift, they exude hospitality, charm, and wit. “When you play music like we do, it has to mean something,” Wystrach notes. “The musicality, it has to be fun. It’s so varied, it’s so dynamic. Certain songs choke you up every night.” Understandably, Midland is in good spirits. Their second record, _Let It Roll_, from Big Machine Records, came out a few weeks ago to fanfare, cementing the band as a country fixture with style _and_ substance. Now, the tres amigos are well out on their global headlining tour, travelling up and down Americanaville, USA. “We were just spitballing about The Palomino after a show, and none of us had any idea what its fate had been,” recalls Wystrach. “We figured we could work with the guys at the Valley Relics Museum that now has a lot of the memorabilia from the original club. We thought, ‘we’re gonna come in there and turn it around!’” So explains the occasion which brings them here today: a one-night only performance which will see the tired complex revived and refashioned, the original rusted neon sign in-tow. A cherry on top.
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Though Wystrach, Carson, and Duddy had known each other in the early 2010s when bacheloring in Los Angeles, it wasn’t until 2016 that the group (which came to fruition after casually playing together at a rehearsal dinner for their friend’s wedding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and realizing their chemistry wasn’t just chance) started generating serious waves, after relocating to Dripping Springs, Texas. Their 2017 debut album, _On the Rocks_, compromised singles like “Drinkin’ Problem” and “Make a Little,” with listeners and critics alike immediately drawing connections to the Bakersfield Sound and a Gram Parsons-Nudie suit sensibility—you could practically taste the dust from Kern County. “We’re all from the West,” states Carson, proudly. “I’m from Oregon, Cameron’s from California, and Mark’s from Arizona. California looms large, there is certainly an LA stamp.”
Each member beams when recounting their influences and heroes, with The Laurel Canyon and Venice Sounds, The Eagles, The Byrds, and The Doors uttered more than once. “Songs like ‘Playboys’ is straight autobiographical,” Wystrach shares, regarding a song on the recent _Let It Roll_ album. “Some of the music is more motive, so the songs are getting inspired by where you’re at and what you’re feeling. Then there are songs like ‘Mr. Lonely’ that are more like a bunch of friends sitting down. I love ‘The Fireman’ by George Strait, and I love ‘Fast As You’ by Dwight Yoakam.”
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Of course, many of Midland’s tunes bear the signs of sophomoric late nights. “Each one of us has been a Lothario back in the day,” confides Wystrach. “We have all lived in Hollywood single, good times were had.” On the other hand, recent songs like “Gettin’ the Feel” demonstrate hallmarks of maturity and growth, maybe passing on that last tequila soda at the Blue Goose Lounge and getting yourself home in one piece. “We’re a little bit more evolved now. Cam and Jess are married. I just got married—I got a baby coming!”
No, these belaced cowboys aren’t feeling the intoxicating effects of a neat Woodford Reserve, but rather of domesticity, missing their families on the road, trying to retrofit a tour bus into as close a living room as one can when traversing South Dakota hamlets, and reflecting on the careers they’ve cultivated on the way. “You just try and get into habitual, healthy habits,” adds Duddy. “Mark and I like to golf, stay fit. We go to the local gym, meet some fine, local citizens that way. You try and stay in touch with your family as much as possible. The creature comforts; kombucha is on the bus, there are Doritos on the bus, there’s coffee. Yerba Mate.” Ah, nix the sour mash, nix the panem et circenses! Give them Yerba. Give them millennial beverages. Begging the question, would The Flying Burrito Brothers approve? Are there, in fact, inherent prerequisites for being a veritable steward of country?
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“Well, I’ll tell ya,” proposes Duddy, “there are no rules. I grew up 15 minutes away from here. I didn’t grow up branding cattle, or even playing country music in my first bands. I was playing rock and metal, covering Nirvana. Shit like that.” The sentiment is echoed and rehashed. Country as a genre has historically been the target of metro- coastal scrutiny. Take Barbara Walters’ 1977 special with Dolly Parton, where the famed interviewer states, ‘You don’t have to look like this, you’re very beautiful, you don’t have to wear the blonde wigs, you don’t have to wear the extreme clothes, right?’ Conversely, there are also internal size contests being bona fide. On Lil Nas X’s rising star and international hit, “Old Town Road,” chart-topping neo-traditional group Brothers Osborne expressed, “this dude decides to put out a song with kinda quasi-country lyrics?”
“Anybody that’s out there complaining what is country and what’s not country, I guess there’s a deeper subtext,” Duddy confides. “That’s code for other shit—and use your imagination.” Carson and Wystrach are still leaning back in their chairs, hands behind their heads. It’s 90oF in late October. “There are certain songs that are very traditional country. But if you actually listen to our arrangements, there’s also stuff that’s unconventional that really pulls it into the modern age,” clarifies Wystrach. “We’re interested, personally, in believing in the music. The greatest curse is going to play music that doesn’t compel you.”
Photographed by Harper Smith
Midland’s tour manager, a towering 6’5” monolith who is most likely a former Marine, glances over. Time’s getting thin. “We have so much to look forward to in 2020,” Wystrach grins. “We just announced yesterday on the _Ellen Show_ the lineup for Stagecoach. We found out we’re playing the Sunset set on Saturday night. To me, that is the best thing you can do, hands down.” After their highly-anticipated performance tonight, it’s back to driving over tumbleweeds and savoring tunes of their favorite artists at the moment. “I love Noel Gallagher’s new project,” Wystrach says. Carson nods, adding in the moment they played a show with Anderson .Paak. “We were literally blown out of our freaking boots watching him play live. He absolutely slays the drums, and the background singers are incredible. There’s showmanship.”
As the stillness of the afternoon air around the questionable Le Monge patio reaches a crescendo, Wystrach sums up his emotions on _Let It Roll_ in his signature pensive tone. “It’s like an agave plant that grows in the ground. When you pull that plant up it’s gonna have the DNA of the earth that’s around it. This album is like our agave, our piña. All the flavors and the elements of our collective experiences are there.” We’ll be on the lookout when that agave distills into a velvety añejo.
* * *
Photographed by: [Harper Smith](https://instagram.com/harpersmithphoto).
Flaunt Film Directed by: [Collin Duddy](https://www.instagram.com/collinduddy/?hl=en).
Edited by: [Alix Spence](https://www.instagram.com/alixspence/?hl=en).
Styled by: [Jay Hines](https://www.instagram.com/jayhines_/).
Grooming: [Mira Chai Hyde](https://www.instagram.com/mirachai/?hl=en) using [Caudalie](https://www.caudalie.com) and [House Of Skuff](http://www.houseofskuff.com) at [The Wall Group](https://www.thewallgroup.com).
Stylist Assistant: [Stefani Lindenberg](https://www.instagram.com/stefaninicolle/).
Location: The Palomino Club, North Hollywood, Ca.
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