Hear Whitey Morgan’s Gritty New Song ‘Honky Tonk Hell’
For a purist like Whitey Morgan, country music is just as much tear-in-your-beer balladry as boot-scootin’ boogie, and on his tortured new track “Honky Tonk Hell” — the first to be debuted from the Michigander’s next LP, Hard Times and White Lines — Morgan finds himself in a special kind of purgatory.
The new album is the first from Morgan and his band, the 78’s, since his Sonic Ranch LP was released in 2015. Opening track “Honky Tonk Hell” is a gruff, gritty tune that sets a bleak tone for Hard Times and White Lines as the singer-songwriter, now based in California, laments the temptation and destruction that await beyond those barroom doors. “The doors are always open and you’re welcome inside,” Morgan sings, likening the scene to the Heartbreak Hotel, though it sounds just as much like the House of the Rising Sun.
Announced via Morgan’s Instagram on Monday, Hard Times and White Lines is set for release on October 26th and includes songs co-written with Travis Meadows and Ward Davis, plus a cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid.” In the meantime, Morgan plays his friend Cody Jinks’ new Loud & Heavy Fest in Fort Worth, Texas, later this month, as well as a headlining gig at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hard Times and White Lines track listing:
- “Honky Tonk Hell”
- “Bourbon n Blues”
- “Around Here”
- “What Am I Supposed to Do”
- “Just Got Paid”
- “Hard to Get High”
- “Carryin’ On”
- “Fiddler’s Inn”
- “Tired of the Rain”
- “Wild and Reckless”