Way Too Many Trees

Ian Munsick carries Wyoming with him wherever he goes. Though he’s now based in Nashville, Munsick consistently documents his affection for the Cowboy State through his music. For example, he named his new album Eagle Feather, a title that alludes to a gift he received at his honorary Crow Native American tribal adoption last year.

The closing track on that 20-song collection, “The Gate,” is bookended by the voices of his father and his son, underscoring the life lessons within the poignant lyrics. He even enlisted Buck Brannaman, an inspiration for Nicholas Evans’ 1995 novel, The Horse Whisperer, to appear in the music video for “Horses, Not Hearts.”

On a rare break from touring, Munsick chatted with Good Country about moving to Nashville as an 18-year-old, his admiration for bluegrass musicians, and his most reliable piece of advice.

Let’s start by talking about the video for “Horses, Not Hearts.” Why did you like the treatment for that video?

Ian Munsick: When it comes to everything for the eyes, my wife has a huge part in that. She’s also my manager and she’s very good at branding. The majority of my imagery comes from her, and she had that idea of going back home to Wyoming. There’s an old cowboy in Wyoming that’s one of the best horsemen in the world named Buck Brannaman. We always try to incorporate and feature real people in the West that are very good at what they do. This is a common theme for us, and he was one that we hadn’t included yet. We’re from Sheridan, and his wife is best friends with my mom, and we go way, way back. Before I was even born, they knew me, so it was cool getting to work with him and his daughter and his wife.

We’re really trying to portray an accurate picture of the real West. That’s always been my goal as an artist, and there’s no better way of doing that than to have world class horsemen and cowboys.

I think you’re a visual songwriter, too. “Too Many Trees” has a lot of visuals in it, and it’s a love song, but there’s also that issue of where to settle down. Is that something you and your wife talk about – thirty years in the future, where you want to be?

Oh yeah, all the time. I lucked out in that my wife loves Wyoming and I knew that that was going to have to be a precursor, because that’s where I belong. That’s where I feel most at home. She’s from North Carolina and there’s a lot of trees and hills there. I started to think to myself, “What if she didn’t like Wyoming?” That’s how that song came about. Being from Wyoming, there’s no trees there. They’re only on the mountains and by the rivers and that’s it. So, moving to Nashville when I was 18, it was a pretty dramatic geographical change.

I always had that idea and that title and then I picked up my three-year-old nephew from the airport. He flew in a couple years ago with his parents and we were riding back home in the truck back to our house in Nashville. I don’t think that he had ever left Wyoming, so it was his first time out. The first thing that he told me in the truck on the way home was, “Man, there’s so many trees out here.” I was like, “I’ve got to write that song!” That’s what sparked it.

When you thought, “All right, I’m moving to Nashville,” what was your goal?

I didn’t really have a big goal. My main goal was to play music for a living. I knew that if I was making music, then I was gonna be happy. It didn’t matter if I was writing songs or if I was playing in a band, or if I was producing songs, or if I was being an artist. I just knew that I wanted to be playing music all the time. Then slowly after I got here, I started to realize everybody that’s an artist right now is from the same area. They’re from Georgia or Tennessee or Texas and that’s it. So it’s like, maybe I have a unique outlook on what country is. That’s what inspired my whole artistry.


Photo Credit: Raul Esparza

Did you get a lot of radio stations where you grew up?

No, man! As you can imagine. There were three stations, two of them were country and one was rock. That’s it.

Wow. Did you listen to rock and roll coming up as a kid? Did you like it?

Yeah, my dad – he’s just a very good musical mind. He plays a bunch of instruments, writes his own music, so he turned me and my two older brothers on to all kinds of music when we were young. So honestly, I didn’t really listen to country radio very much, just because my dad hated it. He’s like, “Oh, this isn’t real country music.” That’s always what he would say. So we didn’t really listen to much radio country. It was like old tapes of Merle Haggard and George Jones – and the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Ledoux, all kinds of music.

Did you get up on stage a lot as a kid and play with your dad?

Yeah, my dad taught my two brothers and me how to play music at a young age. By the time I was about 10 years old, we were on stage all together as a family band. That’s how I started. We’d play rodeos and after-parties, dances, just whoever would have us. That’s how I came up playing music, learning through them.

From the videos I’ve seen, and looking at your videos on social media, it seems to me like you don’t have stage fright. Did you lose that early as a kid?

Yeah, my dad knows how to engage an audience very well, so I got to learn that at a really young age. And my two older brothers already knew, from him, how to engage a crowd. So I had three people I looked up to that were already really good at that and I definitely learned from them.

I found one of your songs on Spotify called “Me Against the Mountain” and I was surprised to hear banjo on there. What was on your mind as that song was taking shape?

Like most writers, I have my voice memos on my iPhone, just hundreds of them on there. During COVID, I was writing with two people that I had never written with that would quickly become two of my favorite people to write with, Jeremy Spillman and Randy Montana. I had this little thing that was just like [imitates twangy licks] and it felt very backwoods mountain bluegrass. So I just picked up my banjo and started to play that. I did have the word “mountain,” and Randy was like, “Man, that’s just a really cool vibe. I wonder if it’s ‘me against the mountain?’” The mountain could be an actual mountain, or it could be a metaphor for an obstacle that’s between you and the one you love. So that’s how it came to be.

I recorded the whole thing in my studio and I mixed it right there. My wife and I were about to get married and I played it for her in the car. She’s like, “This needs to be our wedding song.” I was like, “All right, sweet.” So we made that music video around our wedding, which is something I feel like only happens when your wife is your manager. [Laughs]

How did you acquire a banjo?

For that one, that might have been a ganjo. Right after I made that track, I was like, “Man, you have no idea how long it took me to get that thing to sound good.” Like all ganjos do! But after that, for my birthday, my wife went to Carter Vintage and bought me a Deering banjo. It’s a beautiful banjo! It’s honestly one of the nicest instruments that I own. I just keep that bad boy in my studio. I can play “Cripple Creek” and that’s about it. But when you’re in the studio, you have the advantage of tuning it weird and making weird noises with it and fooling around until it’s good. What a cool instrument that just immediately puts you in a vibe. The acoustic guitar obviously can do a lot of things, but when you hear a banjo, it’s like you’re there. It just takes you to that place. It’s a very special instrument.

Do you remember when you got introduced to bluegrass or learned about it?

Yeah, my dad’s primary instrument is fiddle. I remember him playing all those old fiddle tunes when I was growing up. He gave me my granddad’s mandolin at a young age and he would teach me how to play those old fiddle tunes on the mandolin. So that’s my first real intro to old traditional bluegrass music.

But then, through people like Yonder Mountain String Band, Steep Canyon Rangers, Doc Watson, and Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, I really started to navigate my own [path through] bluegrass music. I fell in love with harmonies, number one. Those were the main things that drew me in. I’ve always been a huge harmony guy. I love the Beach Boys. I love The Beatles. And bluegrass was that other thing that really played on those three-part harmonies. Being the youngest of the three brothers, that was our thing – to sing harmonies. That’s probably what drew me in, right out of the gate as a kid. And the older I get, the more I appreciate the playing. Those are some of the best musicians in the world playing bluegrass music.

On “Cheyenne,” you’re putting yourself out there with just a guitar and not much else. What stands out about that song for you?

Lyrically I really love that one. You probably know a little bit about that town, but Frontier Days obviously is when everyone comes to Cheyenne. People think that’s the big hot spot of Wyoming, through that rodeo, but really that’s the only two weeks that anything ever happens there. Other than that, it’s a total ghost town. Not a lot of action. Even though it is the state capital, nothing goes on there. I thought it was a cool idea, lyrically. I had that guitar riff going into the write and I’ve always been a huge believer in four-chord or five-chord change, back and forth, like Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” How it never goes to the one, how it never resolves. That’s the vibe for that one.

I produced that with Jeremy Spillman, and him being older and much wiser than me, he’s like, “Man, this song doesn’t need much. It doesn’t need a kick drum. Just throw a little snare in there and maybe a steel guitar, and that’s it.” That’s what I’ve been liking, too. The older I get, the more I don’t like a bunch of noise, which is probably the human experience! [Laughs] I feel like overdoing it is pretty easy for producing music, and I think it can speak more if there’s less in it, and it allows the audience to have a little bit of room to imagine things.

When I was in college, I loved the song “I Can Still Make Cheyenne.” Do you like that one?

Man, I’ll tell you what. Dude, I heard that maybe not for the first time in high school, but that’s the first time I remember hearing it. It was my freshman year. Holy shit, dude, it rocked my world. I listened to it on repeat on iTunes for two weeks straight. It was like, “I can’t get enough of this.” To this day, that’s probably my favorite country song of all time. So good.

There’s a lot of life lessons in your song, “The Gate.” You probably learned some of those lessons the hard way. Especially in the music business, no doubt. When people approach you for advice, how do you handle that?

I’m always really inspired to try and help people as much as I can through my experiences. First thing I tell them is that I’m a ranch dude from Wyoming. So if I can do this, you can do whatever you want. There’s no world that’s more opposite than ranching in Wyoming to the entertainment industry. That’s as opposite as it gets. So if I can do it, then they can do it.

Man, I just try and use my mistakes, so that hopefully they don’t have to make those mistakes. I’m still young, I still have plenty more mistakes to be made. But what the main thing is, growing up in Wyoming, you’ve got to work your ass off and you want to be around people that are good people. It’s great if they can help you, or if you can profit with them, but the number one thing is just making sure you’re with good people that have your back.


Photo Credit: Cam Mackey

WATCH: Sean Devine, “Clay Bluffs”

Artist: Sean Devine
Hometown: Livingston, Montana
Song: “Clay Bluffs”
Album: Here For It All
Release Date: September 3, 2021
Label: Crazy Mountain

In Their Words: “The young woman in this story has some hard choices to make. She already knew that, and then they got harder. This story is not unique to eastern Wyoming; that’s just where I happened to overhear part of it, at a gas station Burger King on a cold January night. I didn’t know these young people, but then again I do. They have been my family and I have been them myself. That’s how I know this girl is going to be ok.” — Sean Devine


Photo credit: John Zumpano

Colter Wall Covers the Classic “Cowpoke” for Western AF

Canadian country singer Colter Wall has been slowly diffusing his rich, deep voice throughout the Americana world. In 2020, the singer from Saskatchewan announced his third album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, with the release of a cover of the Stan Jones classic, “Cowpoke.” The album is a gold mine of soothing classic country sounds. Recorded in Texas, Wall performed the music with the band he travels with, fashioning a familiarity with outside material that dovetails nicely with the Western sound that’s heard in Wall’s songwriting, too.

For a long while, Wall only sang “Cowpoke” live, and to the praise of his fans, he has finally committed the cover to record. He possesses a keen sensibility for Western culture — the music he creates is fresh, but bears great resemblance to deeply ingrained musical traditions. Buy it, download it, stream it; do whatever you have to do to hear Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs. You can watch Colter Wall sing “Cowpoke” in Bar Nunn, Wyoming, for Western AF below.


Photo credit: Robert Stilwell

Jalan Crossland Revives “Moonshiner” on a Historic Wyoming Stage

In this must-see live video bluegrass and Americana veteran Jalan Crossland plays it lonesome at the Lincoln Theater in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Crossland, who has been releasing music since 2000, is a champion-level instrumentalist, but he mixes several techniques to shape his mountain sound on his song “Moonshiner.” Listen for a little flatpicking here and there, some fingerpicks like a Scruggs-style banjo player, and clawhammer thrown in for good measure on the strings of his banjitar (or ganjo, if you prefer).

The sound that comes from Crossland’s hands matches the gritty timbre of his rich voice, which seems to emanate from deep within and pour out like smoke from a fire. “Moonshiner” is from one of the instrumentalist’s earliest albums, dating all the way back to 2004. Performing solo inside one of Wyoming’s most beautiful and historic venues, he brings a skill and prowess to what is otherwise folk music, and the result has a magnetism that few others can achieve. Watch the striking performance from our friends at Western AF below.

LISTEN: The Two Tracks, “All Women Are Healers”

Artist: The Two Tracks
Hometown: Sheridan, Wyoming
Song: “All Women Are Healers”
Album: Cheers to Solitude
Release Date: August 14, 2020

In Their Words: “‘All Women Are Healers’ was inspired by the title of a natural healing book that has been in my collection for years. The song speaks as a supportive women’s anthem highlighting the importance of women in the world. I feel incredibly lucky to have had the chance to work with Will Kimbrough producing this record and Sean Sullivan engineering at The Butcher Shoppe in Nashville, just months before the studio was forced to close their doors because the property is being redeveloped. The history in that room was thick. We recorded our past two albums there and would have recorded every future one in that studio — it was such a low-key comfortable atmosphere to create in. I also appreciate Will for connecting us with an incredible woman for the mixing phase of the album, Trina Shoemaker. She is one of the best in the Americana industry right now and it is refreshing to see women in these often male-dominated roles. It’s good to see the current progressive shifts in awareness of the social standards and prejudices women still deal with across the world.” — Julie Szewc, The Two Tracks


Photo credit: Dean Owens

LISTEN: Jason Tyler Burton, “Fires of ’88”

Artist name: Jason Tyler Burton
Hometown: Pinedale, Wyoming
Song: “Fires of ’88”
Album: Kentuckian
Release Date: August 26, 2019

In Their Words: “I worked seasonal jobs for a while as a park ranger and climbing guide. I was living out of a minivan, and that transient lifestyle is appealing in so many ways. When you get tired of someplace or some job, you just go find the next one. So this song is about moving on, letting go, and welcoming change. It’s also about not running from your past or trying to reinvent yourself by moving away, because, in my experience, that doesn’t work.” — Jason Tyler Burton


Photo credit: Erica Chambers

Traveler: Your Guide to Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is quite literally a hole in the the Teton Mountain Range, created be a 50-mile long, flat valley. This small town, with about 9,500 permanent residents, is the type of place where you pull on your fanciest cowboy boots for a night out drinking whiskey. Found in the northwest corner of Wyoming, Jackson Hole is 6,237 feet high and 2.9 square miles in size. The Western nostalgia and Native American influences are pervasive throughout, making themselves known from statues to studded saddles. Jackson Hole is a city where the most recognizable neon sign in the “skyline” reads “Cowboy Bar,” but the culinary, art, and resort influences give the town a more debonair feel.

Getting There

Yonder Is Jackson Hole. Photo credit: Dhtrible via Wikimedia

United, Delta, and American service Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), the only commercial airport in the U.S. within a national park. The town is 36 miles from the airport, 15 miles from the Idaho border, and 12 miles south of Teton Village. Within Jackson Hole, the public bus system, called START, is so efficient and easy to use you won’t need a car.

Stay

Antler Arch. Photo credit: Ken Lund via Wikimedia

Whether you’re looking for an opulent mountainside villa or a campsite with compost toilets, Jackson Hole has a manifold of accommodations. Alpine House’s European-style, certified eco-friendly lodge serves breakfast prepared by in-house chefs each morning. The Wort — pronounced “The Wirt” in local lingo — is a boutique hotel nearly 80 years in the making, offering quintessentially Western suites and the town’s most hoppin’ music venue, the Silver Dollar Showroom. If you’re rolling in it, Amangani’s rooms have expansive views of the Tetons, plus a ski-in lodge. On the opposite side of the ammenity spectrum, campgrounds abound. Try the Jackson Hole/Snake River Koa, Curtis Canyon Campground or the Hoback Campground.

Eat & Drink

Lotus. Photo credit: @organiclotusjh on Instagram

From classic spots with speakeasy Western vibes like the White Buffalo Room’s house-aged steaks to Lotus’s raw pad Thai made with turnip noodles, this tiny town’s food scene runs the gamut.

Persephone is a popular French-style bakery offering breakfast and lunch options. Pro tip: Order the squash and ricotta toast, featuring creamy butternut squash and ricotta spread with crunchy pumpkin seeds and espresso salt. Their sister restaurant, Picnic, offers the same core baked goods, plus not-so-average breakfast items like biscuits & gravy with Dijon maple creme and goat cheese bacon crumbles. Pinky G’s is the late-night spot of choice, going on five years voted as Jackson Hole’s “Best Pizza.”

For a night out, start with drinks at the Handle Bar, where you can roast s’mores at your table while you sip whiskey neat. Then, head to the Coach for a night of dancing to the renowned Stagecoach Band, who also plays a weekly “Sunday Church” show on Sunday nights.

Adventure

Grand Tetons National Park. Photo credit: Hawthorne Ave via Wikimedia

With two national parks, a national refuge, and myriad public parks situated in Jackson Hole, less than three percent of the land is privately owned. The other 97 percent is state or federal government-owned. All year, outdoorsy tourists roam Jackson Hole. Summer months are full of hiking, fly-fishing, and mountain biking, while winter is for skiing and snowboarding, and spring is the most active time for wildlife viewing.

The sheer grandeur of Grand Teton National Park is right in the name. You can’t go wrong meandering within the park, but don’t miss Cascade Canyon, Granite Canyon, and Amphitheater Lake. The park is a magnet for photographers and technical mountain climbers because of the size and breadth of the mountain range. The entrance fee is $30 per vehicle.

Grand Tetons. Photo credit: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

Yellowstone National Park’s south entrance is 90 miles north of Jackson Hole, covering 3,500 square miles of land in Wyoming. It is the oldest national park, gaining status after photographers, painters, and sketchers captured and showed the wonders of the Tetons to Congress in 1872. The park sits on top of an ancient super-volcano and has more than 1,000 of miles of backcountry hiking. Also noteworthy is the National Elk Refuge with thousands of elk making the spot their home for the winter and spring. For the best chance of catching a glimpse of elk, head out with binoculars in the spring.

Of course Jackson Hole is predominantly a ski town, with several resorts close by like the challenging Snow King and the cornerstone of ski resorts in town, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Art

National Museum of Wildlife Art. Photo credit: Daniel Mayer via Wikimedia

The art scene in Jackson Hole is distinctively Western and home to world-class organizations. From ornately decorated handmade leather saddles to scenes of buffalo upon canvas to jewelry adorned with large hunks of turquoise, strolling the galleries in Jackson Town Square won’t let you forget you’re in equestrian country. We recommend the Congressionally designated National Museum of Wildlife Art, RARE Gallery of Fine Arts, Astoria Fine Art, and Trailside Galleries. 

As for the musical arts, the Pink Garter Theatre hosts a variety of roots artists we love like Elephant Revival and the Lil Smokies. The Silver Dollar Show Room has a bluegrass show every Tuesday night featuring their house band, One Ton Pig, and the Mangy Moose is a solid choice for drinks and live music apres skiing. Our roots music brethren gather in Grand Targhee Resort for the Targhee Bluegrass Festival. Catch classics like Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, Railroad Earth, and Greensky Bluegrass at this fest recurring yearly since 1988.