Music Jul 29, 2015 at 4:00 am

Building a Bridge from Punk Rock to Townes Van Zandt (with a Little Help from Spotify)

Whitey Morgan is not an outlaw.

Comments

1
Fine music...but this same article has been written about 500 times, about every No Depression, Insurgent Country, Alt-Country, etc band of the last 25 years...Looks like this guy is built from a Steve Earle Identikit. Again, good music, sounds like a stand up dude, could probably have been written about in a better fashion.
2
Interesting. Two of my favorite albums are "Shotgun Willie" and "Kristofferson," and my favorite movie is Nashville, yet I had somehow never heard the term "Outlaw Country." Good to know.

The alt-country I've listened to from the 90's-present just sounds depressing and boring, but I'll have to check this guy out.
3
Huh, so I listened to him and I think my biggest problem with modern alt-country, including this guy, is that it has none of the humor the old songs had. It doesn't really involve telling actual stories about interesting characters or situations, either.
4
@4 You make a good point. Even shitty pop country is at least funny, catchy, and has a lot of story telling. I mean, it's not insanely popular for no reason.
5
#4, Yeah, I'd rather listen to pop country than straight up pop any day because the lyrics are still the focus, as opposed to pop, where the lyrics seem to consist of a bunch of cliched, meaningless phrases lazily strung together.

Songs like "Redneck Woman" and "Before He Cheats" (I'm a little behind) are still really well written, lyrically entertaining songs even if they don't match the absolute poetry of a "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down."
6
This guy is a genre-hopping opportunist. Pop-punk to straight edge to indie to commercial emo and now he is "reclaiming his heritage" under a pseudonym. If the Whitey Morgan thing doesn't pan out he'll reinvent himself as something else. Phony baloney- he is the Lana Del Rey of alt-country.

Listen to this garbage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMd5-M3n…
7
wait. Kenny Chesney isn't an outlaw?
8
I gotta ask... Is the only reason that The Stranger will pay attention to a country artists is only if they've been "punk" previously?

I say this because I'm a fan of The Black Lillies, the only independent country group to be asked back to the Grand Ole Opry. They've never, ever played "punk" or even "alternative" music, being straight country/blue grass. They tour endlessly, have been in Seattle & Portland countless times. This is the band you should be writing this article on. Unless, of course, The Stranger writers could never dare to touch anything that wasn't somehow indie/punk.
9
It is ironic that real country people like pop country, while "authentic" Whitey Morgan's fan base is made up of country posers. He can say fuck off to the likes of Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban, but back in the day they were still country while this guy was trying to be Earth Crisis.
10
No mention of women country artists? What about Jessi Coulter and Emmylou Harris, to name a couple of prominent outlaws? As for contemporary artists, Kacey Mugraves is a total badass who is incredibly talented, writes her own songs, AND gets radio play. Oh, and she's an outspoken proponent of marriage equality and legal weed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9z1vVUd…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ugS08zy…

11
Ahem. I can't spell today. That's Jessi COLTER and Kacey MUSGRAVES.
12
Amen, Chris Jury. Bitter people make bitter T-shirts. There is was and will always be great music out there. and there will always be Pop music in every genre of the music business, because its a business. People get mad when he runs out of his " Fuck Pop Country" t-shirt, fascinating insight.
13
This music is recycled shit, and the author of the article didn't mention Kris Kristofferson, so he is clueless. Move along, nothing to see here.
14
@13- Well, with that kind of reductionist sentiment, we can kinda just stop making any music now, A lot of names have been thrown out, but I'd say locally the person who is most critical is Joel RL Phelps.

No reason to bash this artist, but the article does seem a bit like they could have picked any one of 1000 people, male or female.
15
Fuckin' Whitey even affects a slight Southern twang in his voice. Country Pop fans can spot a phony miles away. Keep telling yourself you are authentic whilst playing a room filled with aging hep cats raised in suburbia.
16
Haters gonna hate.
17
And Apers gonna Ape.
18
Speaking of haters, FUCK POP COUNTRY! Listen to authentic country rebel (formerly authentic hardline straight edger, punk, emo, indie rocker, Southern rocker, outlaw country, and future hick hopper) Whitey Morgan.

Posers gonna pose

Fakers gonna fake

Whiteys gonna Eric


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