Since its inception, country music has always been rooted in a sense of place. No matter where they come from, singer-songwriters have drawn inspiration from the landscape of where they were raised — whether it's the hollers of Kentucky, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee or the American West, which birthed Western swing and the Bakersfield sound.
The Midwest may not be name-dropped as frequently (or as directly) as other regions, but it makes up the fabric of country music as much as any other. It's also given us some of the genre's greatest voices and lyricists, such as Missouri-born Sara Evans, Kansas-raised Chely Wright and Martina McBride, Michigan's Harlan Howard, Illinois-raised Margo Price (The Midwest Farmer's Daughter herself) and the Land of Lincoln's first honorary poet laureate: John Prine.
The region has found another champion in country singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters, reigning ACM New Female Artist of the Year.
The Iowa-raised Whitters, who just released her new EP I'm in Love, recently joined AgAmerica's Like a Farmer podcast to discuss her Hawkeye State roots and her writing about how eminent domain threatens the family farm, on her song "Middle of America."
"I remember driving through western Iowa — it was the first time I kind of learned about eminent domain. Seeing all these signs saying, 'Stop the Airport, Save the Farms,' and I was like, 'What are they talking about?' That was the first time I realized the government can take farms to build an airport. That kind of blew my mind a little bit," Whitters explained. "That's in [the song] — the state wants an airport / they're taking the farms."
Host Pat Spinosa noted that the song's subject was similar to a storyline in Yellowstone, which famously centers on a Montana family and their century-old ranch. (Whitters previously collaborated with Yellowstone star Luke Grimes for a video teasing her 2022 album Raised.)
"This was my scenery," Whitters said of her Iowa upbringing. "When I listen to Alan Jackson records, it's Red Dirt, it's Georgia. This is my record. This is about the Midwest. It's a little more chert rock and ball caps than it is cowboy hats, but it's still rural. It's still country."
Like a Farmer includes interviews with "everyone from household names to local celebrities while they celebrate the culture and lifestyle of rural America."
Whitters will join Eric Church and Luke Bryan on tour this year. For a full list of tour dates, visit here.
