Whitey Morgan and the 78s releases new album, attracts new fans

Whitey Morgan isn’t some country music star. He’s not the type to hide in the green room before performances or head directly out the back door when he’s done playing.

“We’re not going to hop in the van and be gone,” says Morgan, the Michigan-bred honky-tonk singer who is in town Friday, May 29, at Audie’s Olympic Tavern with his band The 78s.

Morgan has a name in insurgent country. His latest album, released Tuesday, May 19, is a mix of originals and cover tunes from the likes of Waylon Jennings and Townes Van Zandt.

This is whiskey drinking music.

These are songs about drinking your troubles away, “drinking to get someone off your mind,” Morgan says, from his home in Oakhurst, where he recently moved.

“Sonic Ranch,” was produced by Ryan Hewitt, a well known engineer who worked on The Avett Brothers last three albums. It is the first album Morgan didn’t produce himself and Hewitt’s outside perspective pushed the band sonically, Morgan says.

“Sonic Ranch,” marked another first for the band. It’s the first album it released without a record label.

“We went in debt to record the album,” he says. “I’m kind of in debt right now.”

The pay off is coming.

Three months ago the band started promoting the album online and on social media. They released a video and started pre-sales through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Almost immediately, attendance at its shows doubled. The album has already been picked up on SirusXM and college radio.

People are getting tired of commercial radio music, Morgan says. They want something true and honest.

“They want real music, written by real musicians,” he says. “Anyone can have a band, go into the studio and sound perfect. A real band lays it down on stage every night.”

The 78s are still working new songs into the live set, though rehearsing on the road is tough. It’s mostly done in hotel rooms or during extended sound checks.

That’s the process, Morgan says. Songs are started in the studio. They aren’t really complete until the band has played them in front of crowds.

“A year from now we’ll have this song that has an amazing new energy to it,” he says.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Whitey Morgan and the 78s releases new album, attracts new fans."