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St. Paul, Minn.

'This Town' an ode to Iron Range ghost town

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Today's Morning Edition music is from "This Town," a new single by Rich Mattson and the Northsiders.

Mattson, who is part of the popular band Ol' Yeller, grew up in Eveleth, Minnesota, and now has a studio in another Iron Range town, Sparta.

Mattson said that most of the land and homes in Sparta are owned by a mining company, and that company is not renewing leases. As a result, people are moving out and Sparta is becoming a ghost town.

He wrote this song about the exodus from Sparta.

You can hear him perform it live on Thursday night at Uncle Eric's bar in Virginia.