My father is big NASCAR fan. It’s weird because he’s from Argentina and has an accent and is not your typical NASCAR dude, on one level. On the other he’s a truck driver from family that raced motorcycles in Argentina and has lived in the US now for over 30 years.
Me, not a huge fan, but that didn’t stop me from accompanying him to a recent NASCAR weekend here in Vegas, and while there’s a lot to say about that weekend, this is about Whitey Morgan. During that NASCAR race I was drunk, sun sickened, covered up in 100 degree weather like a character from Arabian Nights. My memory of the day isn’t great, but I do remember being informed by a NASCAR nation memeber’s shirt, that this guy named Whitey Morgan was hashtag #realcountry.
I’ve tired of people letting me know that something is “Real X Genre of Music”. I don’t like hearing that Common is “real Hip Hop” or that Blink 182 isn’t “real punk”, it’s getting “real stupid” to hear that stuff everywhere. So obviously this wasn’t the best way for me to be introduced to Whitey. But because of Spotify I can see if I like something without having to buy it. (oh fuck you Spotify, you suck, rich people aren’t getting enough from your streams…shut the hell up). I listened and I enjoyed it and few months later there he was on Songkick, gonna play in Las Vegas.
Now, punk rock and hip-hop and what not, don’t have have too much trouble finding people to check that stuff out. Country music is different story. I went by my lonesome like a Hank Williams song. Wasn’t the first time at a show alone and won’t be the last. In fact being there solo allowed me to pay closer attention.
Whitey Morgan’s music translates better live than it does from the recordings. That says a lot because I enjoyed the albums I listened to enough to decide I wanted to see him live. The guitar riffs, the singing, the back and forth with the audience and the strangeness of a guy from a working class northern town in Michigan playing a very southern form of our American music, all came together to make a great entertaining show. It was whiskey shots and country hero covers and bunch of people in cowboy hats getting rowdy.
So #realcountry bro, that’s lame. But good country music, well that’s definitely Whitey Morgan and the 78s.