Whitey Morgan and the 78’s have been carrying the Outlaw Country torch passed down by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Billy Joe Shaver for two decades. With four albums under their collective belt, the band is still going strong. They’ve released three Shooter Jennings-produced tracks in the past few months and are slated to perform at the Under the Big Sky Festival this Sunday (July 20).
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Ahead of their performance at the festival this weekend, Whitey Morgan sat down with American Songwriter to talk about new music, festival gigs, and more.
[RELATED: 4 of the Most Outlaw Songs in Outlaw Country History]
Whitey Morgan on Playing Festivals
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s will play the Big Mountain Stage at Under the Big Sky this Sunday. We asked the veteran musician about the difference between playing festival gigs and their headlining shows.
“They can be very different from a club or theatre. I have grown to enjoy them more over the years, which was not the case when I was younger,” Morgan said. “Sometimes, it’s really hard to catch a vibe in the middle of the day from a crowd that is half drunk and has been standing in the sun all day, and most likely is not there to see you. You gotta cut the slow songs from the set list and just bring the energy to them,” he explained. “A well-run festival can be a really fun show to play.”
Morgan and the Band Are Plotting New Music
Since September, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s have released three new songs, all produced by Shooter Jennings. “Let Me Roll” came in first. Then, they dropped a cover of the Waylon Jennings classic “We Had It All.” Most recently, they shared “Somewhere Along the Way.” So, we asked if they were gearing up to release a new album.
“The three songs we did with Shooter were just a quick thing we did because my schedule and his lined up, I was feeling inspired to get in the studio for a few days, so we knocked it out,” Morgan said. “As for a new full album, I am currently working on new material and plan to be in the studio this fall for an early release next year and a long touring schedule,” he added.
“Working with Shooter was great. There was an easy, natural flow that just happened as soon as we got in the room together. I was nice to let myself check out mentally a bit and just let him and the engineer make more of the decision that I would usually make.”
Whitey Morgan on Covering Waylon Jennings’ “We Had It All”
Waylon Jennings has a deep catalog of top-notch songs. So, we asked how Whitey Morgan and the 78’s chose to cover “We Had It All.”
“Waylon’s version on his live record has always been one of my favorites, and we had recently been playing it live,” he said. “So, we decided at the last minute to lay it down on the last day in the studio, and it turned out really cool. You can never go wrong with a slow, greasy Waylon cut.”
Featured Image by Khris Poage
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