Whitey Morgan

Started in 2005, under the name Whitey Morgan and the Waycross Georgia Farmboys, the original members included Whitey Morgan (a.k.a. Eric Allen), formerly of Dixie Hustler, on Vocals and Guitar; Jeremy Mackinder, formerly of South Normal, on bass; and Dylan Dunbar and Jack Schneider, formerly of Long Black Sedan, on guitar and drums respectively. After establishing themselves in the Midwest Honky Tonk scene, the band recorded a self-produced EP which includes early versions of "Goodbye Dixie," "Prove It All To You," and "If It Ain't Broke." The band soon signed a deal with Detroit's own Small Stone Recordings and went back into the studio to record a cover version of Van Halen's "Runnin' with the Devil" for the label's Sucking in the 70'scompilation.
In 2007 the band changed its line-up to Whitey Morgan on Vocals and Guitar, Benny James Vermeylen on Guitar and vocals - formerly of 3 Speed^[2] andSouth Normal, Jeremy "Leroy" Biltz on Guitar, Jeremy Mackinder on bass, andMike Popovich - formerly of The Holy Cows,^[3] 3 Speed,^[4] and The OffRamps,^[5] on drums and officially becomes Whitey Morgan and the 78's. In 2008 the band released its debut album Honky Tonks and Cheap Motels on Small Stone Recordings.In 2009 the band saw the addition of Tamineh Gueramy on Fiddle. The band then headed to Woodstock, NY in the fall of 2009 to begin recording the follow-up to Honky Tonks... at the Grammy Award winning Levon Helm Studios. With almost 200 shows a year and the new album nearing completion the band drew the attention of Chicago's Bloodshot Records and signed a new record contract. The self-titled album was released on October 12, 2010. Ahead of the record's release, both Benny James and Mike Popovich left the band, replaced by Travis Harrett on the drums and Brett Robinson joined on pedal steel guitar. In April 2012, Jeremy Mackinder was replaced by Joey Spina on bassAs of 2014, the current line-up features Whitey Morgan on guitar/vocals, Brett Robinson on pedal steel guitar, Joey Spina on guitar, Alex Lyon on Bass, and Tony Dicello on drumsAfter touring with fellow Detroit area band The Deadstring Brothers and Wayne "the Train" Hancock, both Bloodshot Records recording artists, Whitey Morgan and the 78's were signed to Bloodshot in the spring of 2010.

On 16 October 2010, the band performed on NPR's Mountain Stage. They played a four song, fifteen-minute set. The episode also featured Scott Miller, Abigale Washburn, Gene Watson, and The Steel Drivers.

1. http://weekly.metrotimes.com/Subjects/s11078/Whitey_Morgan_and_The_Waycross_Georgia_Farmboys
2. http://www.allmusic.com/album/3-speed-r582914
3. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-holy-cows-p169747
4. http://www.allmusic.com/album/3-speed-r582914
5. http://www.jeremyportermusic.com/sites/theofframps/home.php
6. http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/why-whitey-morgan-bloodshot-signing-is-big
7. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130654275
8. http://www.mountainstage.org/mtnstagepodcast.aspx
9. 
   
10. http://www.detroitmusicawards.com/winners.html 

Meaning of the Word PALS

Mon, May 25,2015

Ive had friends and have had PALS
Let me quote Billy the kids on pals

Charley, you'll come with me?
 You ain't gonna say much, dirty Steve? - Cause he ain't got much to say, Charley.
 Or Steve understands the meaning of the word "pals", don't you Steve?
 Cause if you got three or four good pals well then you got yourself a tribe.
There ain't nothing stronger than that. We're your family now, Chavez. You see billy knew Chavez needed them and they needed him PALS stick together no matter what it gets hard sometimes.but you got to ride it out.at one-time I me 4 good pals but time split us up.we did everything together.now im 39 with a wife and kids and my pals are gone we all are doing or on thing now.it was good to see them.it was sad a death brought us together for one last moment in time.my heart a little harder now.You guys are my PALS forever.Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again, but life goes onSo in the end, was it worth it? Jesus Christ. How irreparably changed my life has become. It's always the last day of summer and I've been left out in the cold with no door to get back in. I'll grant you I've had more than my share of poignant moments. Life passes most people by while they're making grand plans for it. Throughout my lifetime, I've left pieces of my heart here and there. And now, there's almost not enough to stay alive. But I force a smile, knowing that my ambition far exceeded my talent. There are no more white horses or pretty ladies at my door.

Just Remember it's how many times you get knocked down but how many times you get back up bad times don't last forever BUT BAD GUYS DO!!!!!
Chico...

KILLING SPOTIFY’S FREE VERSION WILL BOOST PIRACY

KILLING SPOTIFY’S FREE VERSION WILL BOOST PIRACY

BY Todd Starr ON MAY 10, 2015

Spotify is generally hailed as a piracy killer, with music file-sharing traffic dropping in virtually every country where the service launches. However, much of this effect may be lost if recent calls to end Spotify's free tier are honored.

cassetteWhen Spotify launched its first beta in the fall of 2008, we branded it “an alternative to music piracy.”

With the option to stream millions of tracks supported by an occasional ad, or free of ads for a small subscription fee, Spotify appeared to be a serious competitor to music piracy.

In the years that followed Spotify conquered the hearts and minds of many music fans. Currently available in more than 60 countries, the service has amassed dozens of millions of users.

It’s a true success story, and one that led to a decline in music piracy rates in a few countries, exactly as planned.

However, in recent months there have been calls to end Spotify’s free ad-supported service. Some prominent musicians and labels believe that killing the free tier will increase revenues.

This week it was revealed that Apple is also pressuring record labels to end the licensing agreements that allow Spotify’s ad-supported deal, presumably to make its own Beats service more competitive.

While Spotify hasn’t signaled that anything will change, killing the free version will be a dangerous move. In fact, it’ll be a step backward that is likely to increase piracy in the long run.

Sure, when free users are forced to pay it will motivate some to sign up for a paid subscription. This will then lead to more revenue in the short term, something labels and artists will appreciate. However, in the long run the effects may not be so positive.

One of the main appeals Spotify has for the public, specifically ‘pirates,’ is that there’s a free version available. Pirates like to try before they buy and Spotify free removes the giant hurdle to make the switch to a legal streaming service.

Those who then like the service and want the ad-free experience will eventually convert to a paid subscription. After all, paying is not a problem for most ‘pirates’ who tend to spend more money on entertainment than the average consumer.

Ultimately, the goal of the free version is to start changing the habits of pirates, and it’s been pretty successful at doing so.

Besides killing the free version of Spotify there’s also a possibility that it may become more limited. Just before the weekend news broke that Apple’s Beats may also offer some content for free, and perhaps they would like Spotify and others to do the same.

Again, this isn’t a particularly good idea. The magic of Spotify is that users can access a virtually unlimited library of music. A library that’s greater than what people can find on most pirate sites, and more convenient too.

Limiting the library for free users will make it look less attractive compared to the pirate alternatives. As a result, people will be less likely to get hooked and less likely to make the switch to becoming a paid user.

This brings us to the exclusivity issue. In recent years the music industry has excelled in making its music available to as many people as possible, often without restrictions. But now that some big artists are removing (or threatening to remove) their music from Spotify, or offer some content exclusively to other services, the overall appeal is waning.

Music fans don’t want to pay for 3, 5 or 10 services to get all the music they love. They want it all in one place. While this may not bring in as much as everyone would like, it’s a crucial part of stamping out music piracy.

A few months ago a movie industry report found that consumers in the UK need to use dozens of movie services if they want access to the most popular films. If the same happens to music, piracy will surely soar.

All in all it’s safe to conclude that exclusivity breeds pirates. So if artists and labels are in it for the long run they should keep everything together, and make it easy for pirates to go legal.

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Pacman a real fighter

Yes, Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao. And yes, Floyd Mayweather is the best boxer in the sport. But there was once this kid, some 20 years ago, that sold cigarettes and doughnuts in the poverty stricken streets of the Philippines in order to survive. He left his family as a child to put on a pair of gloves and try to make a living with a gift that he was blessed with. He traveled over an ocean to a foreign land to become one of the greatest fighters that ever lived, winning titles in a record 8 weight divisions. He entertained us and was guided by his faith. He contributes to society to make a better life, not just for his children and wife, but for those in need. The strength of his character surpasses the strenghth of his fist. And on this journey that he has taken us along on, he has somehow managed to become a leader of a nation. He has become the ONE common love between the people of a country that has been divided by different ideals and agendas....sure Floyd Mayweather outclassed Manny Pacquiao inside that 25 x 25 ring. But everything else outside of the squared circle, our hero, Mr. Pacquiao, has outclassed someone who is nothing more than a rich boxer....undisputed. Hey you never find a boxer then Manny Pacquiao Follow RlzTodd

Public opinion Pacquiao won
Boxing is sucking ufc

Waylon Jennings at 18 set for release

http://t.co/kE1gq8QLCd

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

Check out @SonyNashvilleUK's Tweet: https://twitter.com/SonyNashvilleUK/status/588373221642260481?s=09

Google Book Review Sample

My Xbox One, Bill Loguidice. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=hLykAwAAQBAJ

Spotify

Industry insider says free music streaming from Spotify, YouTube and more may soon vanish http://bgr.com/2015/04/13/free-music-streaming-spotify-youtube-lefsetz/

SUMMER TIME AGAIN

Well it's almost summer time again
I smell the BBQ and in honeysuckle I hear the sounds of summer just off in the distance it won't be long and we'll all be piling up in that favorite truck headed out to the lake with our favorite music our favorite food and good friends this is summer 2015 i hope its full of fun and sun like when i was a kid anyways i hope you have a fun and safe summer guy's & Gals let me know your favorite summer ever

Todd Starr
4/12/15 Follow @RlzToddStarr on Twitter

Tim McGraw Sundown Heaven Town CD Review

I write these proceeding words fully knowing that many will roll up to this Tim McGraw dissertation looking for a bowl of blood as recompense for the emotional direst recent Tim McGraw singles such as “Truck Yeah” and “Lookin’ For That Girl” have waged on the mental state of many innocent country music fans. But the simple truth is Tim McGraw’s new album Sundown Heaven Town deserves to be spared the most sinister strokes from the poison pen—not because it is “good” by some stretch of that flattering term, but because it symbolizes a turning of the page for Tim McGraw, and potentially, is a symptom of the turning of the page for the entire country music genre.

Welcome to the post “Bro-Country” age ladies and gentlemen—an era that we probably shouldn’t entertain as being filled with audio offerings that will in any way compare in quality with the greater historical panorama of country music, but one where we’ll see a clearly defined and much welcomed improvement overall in the music being offered for consumers’ listening edification.

Tim McGraw’s Sundown Heaven Town is an example of this. By golly Tim McGraw is actually learning. After he broke from the bonds of institutional subjugation at the autocratic hands of Curb Records which did everything they could to choke every last bit of life force out of Tim’s once high flying career—as accidentally or purposefully as it may have been—he ran to the open and cradling arms of Scott Borchetta and Big Machine to press restart. And almost as if to make up for the half decade he ceded to Curb, Tim started releasing the most ridiculous, panic-driven panderings to young people radio pop as possible in an attempt to regain his relevancy. However the results were so ghastly, even the deficient country music masses saw through it.

Tim’s first post-Curb single was “Truck Yeah,” and immediately McGraw announced there was no floor to the depths he would fall through to regain his pertinence. And for the most part, the single fizzled, especially considering the muscle Big Machine put behind it to reignite Tim’s career. The biggest single to come from Tim’s first Big Machine album came nearly a year later with “Highway Don’t Care.” As a much more nutritious offering, and one that sat much more comfortably in the confines of the adult contemporary style of pop country that has buttered Tim’s bread for years, it became a #1 hit, and the biggest hit on the Two Lanes of Freedom album.

The same story has played out so far for McGraw’s new albumSundown Heaven Town. The first single “Lookin’ For That Girl” was so far outside of Tim’s comfort zone and anything that could be considered “country” it was laughable, and on cue it stalled in the charts. That stuff may fly for Florida Georgia Line, but not for McGraw’s established brand. Then McGraw released his latest single “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s.” Once again a song with more substance did much better, making it to #2 in the charts.

The lesson here, at least for Tim McGraw, is that even in this bereft country music landscape we find ourselves in, it’s still better for him to be himself—that guy that makes moms all around the country swoon with his tight shirts and sentimental ballads. Tim can’t run with the young pups, and he shouldn’t try. And whether that was the purposeful approach toSundown Heaven Town or the accidental result, you get Tim being Tim on this album, which means rooting out some of the best adult contemporary compositions the country industry has to offer and doing them justice.

What surprised me was the lack of drum machine intros, loud overdriven guitars, and ploys for radio play on this album. I was also surprised at the amount of steel guitar. No doubt Sundown Heaven Town still affords some creatively anemic moments, and others moments that are downright awful, but they are nowhere near in the measure you would expect from a Tim McGraw album, or really any mainstream album in 2014. The song “Dust” is probably the album’s laundry list “bro” offering if there was one, and still it’s hard to hate too vehemently. “Keep on Truckin'” trying to capture the vibe of the band Train in the country context, and probably should have been left on the cutting house floor. And songs like “Words Are Medicine” and “Sick Of Me” find McGraw striking out boldly to evoke soaring moments, but the lyrical impact seems to be just a little too flat to achieve those heights.

But even the worst song on the album by a long shot “Lookin’ For That Girl” gets relegated to the next-to-last spot on the track list, where it used to be tradition for track arrangers to bury what they believed was the project’s weakest offering. What McGraw seems to understand withSundown Heaven Town is that albums are for the hardcore fans these days anyway, so you might as well make them count. You might as well make them where they say something and entice people to listen instead of simply being a landing place for hyped-up singles.

Sundown Heaven Town starts off quite strong with “Overrated,” which is something completely unexpected from Tim, and probably one of the best songs on the album. “City Lights” is also strong, and so are the more traditional “Diamond Rings & Old Barstools” duet with Catherine Dunn, and “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s” with better half Faith Hill. “Last Turn Home” achieves that high emotional response McGraw regularly looks to achieve with his song selections, and even though “Portland, Maine” has some people in that city a little upset(however playfully so), its expedition into the terrible head space proceeding a breakup is effective and resonant.

Tim McGraw’s Sundown Heaven Town does not come recommended, but nonetheless comes with praise for affording a template for how mainstream country albums should be made moving forward, and from showing improvement from the artist. Passive consumers who only pay attention to singles anyway shouldn’t be regarded when making albums. And an artist like Tim McGraw is much better off being who he’s always been, from both a commercial and a critical standpoint. Make good albums and you will be on the right side of where country music is headed, and create separation from the lost era when country believed clichés about beer and trucks would line their pockets forever.

i really like the CD the deluxe is worth the money

Todd Starr

4-10-2015

Follow @RlzToddStarr on Twitter 

http://open.spotify.com/user/12135445742/playlist/5qbikvgBvqnXhUfp7w5Yzx

Todd Starr blog: Luke Bryan Music

Todd Starr blog: Luke Bryan Music



Facebook.com/funboy69able

Luke Bryan Music

https://play.google.com/music/m/Aspa7bbqp3ls4lcabtde2bk6f4e

T-mobile prepaid review

T-Mobile Prism II

Todd Starr

rlztoddstarr.blogspot.com

March 17 2014

When I reviewed the original T-Mobile Prism last year, I wrote that it could have been a good phone—if it had been released in 2011. Now it's 2015 and the T-Mobile Prism II has arrived, and my complaints are very much the same. Simply put, there just isn't anything very modern about this device. Sure it's the least expensive smartphone on T-Mobile (at $115.99 upfront), but you don't need to pay a lot more to get a phone that's significantly better.

Design and Call Quality
Made by Huawei (which you can only tell by the branding on the battery), the Prism II measures 4.61 by 2.44 by 0.49 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.88 ounces, which makes it about the same size as the original, but a bit lighter. It's a little thick, but it's very comfortable to hold if you're not a fan of really big phones. The back panel is made of gray rubberized plastic, with a bullseye-like design around the camera sensor, which is highlighted by a stylish yellow ring. There's a shiny gray plastic ring around the sides of the phone, and some black plastic detailing around the all-glass display.

The 3.5-inch capacitive touch LCD sports just 480-by-320-pixel resolution, which is disappointingly low-res. Text, images, and video all look fuzzy and grainy. The onscreen keyboard is a little small, but built-in Swype extensions help to smooth out the typing experience.

The Prism II is a quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and dual-band HSPA7.2 (1700/2100 MHz) device with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. It also supports T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling, which allows you to place calls over Wi-Fi when you can't get network coverage. Unfortunately, there's no 4G LTE support (or even HSPA+), which is a pretty big bummer considering T-Mobile's recent dramatic coverage expansion.

Reception and call quality are both average. Voices sound somewhat muted, with a faint hiss in the background through the phone's earpiece. Calls made with the phone sound decent, though I was able to hear a lot of background noise make its way through. Calls sounded fine through a Jawbone Era Bluetooth headset$52.97 at eBay and standard Android voice dialing worked well. The speakerphone sounds okay, but is far too low to use outdoors. Battery life was average, at 6 hours and 36 minute of talk time.

T-Mobile's new contract-free plans start at $50 per month, and that gets you all the talk and texts you want, along with 500MB of high-speed data per month, after which your speeds are slowed to 2G. $60 gets you 2GB of high-speed data, and $70 gets you unlimited high-speed data. Paired with the right phone, these prices can really help you save a lot of money per month over competing carriers like AT&T and Verizon.

Android and AppsThe Prism II runs Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean), with barely any customizations from Huawei. That's a good thing, since any additional software would probably slow this phone to a crawl, but more on that in a bit.

There's no word on an update to newer versions of Android, but considering Huawei's track record, it isn't likely. There are five customizable home screens you can swipe between that come preloaded with a small number apps and widgets. But there's barely any bloatware, aside from T-Mobile TV, which you can't delete. You get free Google Maps navigation for voice-enabled, turn-by-turn directions. And the phone should work with many of the 800,000+ third-party apps in the Google Play store, but performance is slow, so they may not all run well.

The phone is powered by a 1GHz Cortex-A9 processor, which really just doesn't have the muscle to keep things moving smoothly. The Prism II turned in disappointingly low benchmark scores, but worse yet, you can feel it struggling to keep up as you use the phone. Even the opening animation when you turn it on stutters. So you definitely shouldn't buy this phone for gaming, or even if you just like to run a lot of apps.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions
The Prism II comes with 1.10GB of free internal memory and an empty microSD card slot beneath the battery, in which my 32 and 64GB SanDisk cards worked fine. There's a standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack on top of the phone, and music sounded fine through both wired and Bluetooth headphones. The phone was able to play AAC, MP3, OGG, and WAV test files, but not FLAC or WMA. As for video, the phone was only able to play back H.264 and MP4 test files at resolutions up to 800-by-480, but even at that resolution, they played back a bit stilted. And while wired headphones were fine, audio for video was way out of sync over Bluetooth.

The 3.2-megapixel camera lacks a flash or autofocus. Shutter speeds are improved from the last time around, but photos sadly aren't. Pictures taken with the Prism II have a soft and almost waxy quality as you zoom in. Color detail is decent, but nothing looks particularly vibrant. The camera also records 640-by-480-pixel video at just 14 frames per second outdoors and 12 frames per second inside, which is actually worse than the original Prism.

The T-Mobile Prism II just doesn't have what it takes to compete with the rest of the current smartphone competition. At this price range, the Windows Phone-based Nokia Lumia 521$44.98 at Amazon is the best low-cost smartphone you can get on T-Mobile. It has a larger, nicer display, faster data speeds, and a more powerful processor than the Prism II. The only strike against it is that Windows Phone lacks many of the popular apps you can find on Android. Your next best option is theLG Optimus L9. It costs nearly twice the price of the Prism II, but it has a large, sharp screen, very good call quality, a faster processor, and an attractive design. If you want to stick with Android, it's worth the extra money. T-Mobile has new perpaid rates but i like the
$80.00 unlimited plus 5GB
of hotspot Plus Rhapsody-Radio The Phone is Slow but if you just upgrade to a Samsung galaxy s 3 its better then mo

st contract deals....who whats 2years ? no me

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