The Spring 2017 issue of No Depression, “Heartland,” explores the stories and music that thumps, picks, and breathes between the coasts. While mainstream music critics focus on cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville to learn about rising stars and buzzworthy music, artists in cities like Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Omaha, and Iowa City are making some of the purest, most honest roots music around. What’s more, artists from the coasts are increasingly touring the heartland — and some are even moving there — to find inspiration in the region’s big skies, honest people, and rich musical legacies.

Long Features

• Dolly Parton, working class feminist 
• Bob Dylan’s Midwest roots 
• Heartland rock via John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge, Kansas, and more 
• The enduring legacy of Hee Haw 
• The unknown story of Indiana’s Gennett Records 
• Native American hip-hop and Standing Rock 
• Chicago and Austin’s musical exchange

Short Features

• The Jayhawks
• Conor Oberst 
• Over the Rhine 
• Peter Mulvey 
• Chicago Farmer 
• Local music in Montana and Ohio 
• Music venues in the Upper Midwest

Artist-Written Essays

• Robbie Fulks
• Reverend Peyton
• Allison Moorer
• Charlie Parr

Photos/Art

• Cover art by Greta Songe
• Archival photographs: Hee Haw and Gennett Records
• Illustrations by Justin Marable, Colin Sutherland, Drew Christie, and Jenny Ritter