Bio for Drake White
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With a rustic, southern sound, the Dot Records artist embraces the new multifaceted nature of modern Country music. “We play soul music,” White says in a mid-tempo Alabama drawl.
“We play Country music. We play Rock. Then we’ll strip it down to Bluegrass. I want the people out there in the audience to feel the spirit in the music we play. Music should stir people to experience something, grow confidence, or conquer a fear. I want to help people through my music; I believe that’s what I’m called to do.” White’s sound is equal parts his father’s record collection, his mother’s love of music, the choir in his grandfather’s Southern Baptist church and the musically infused town of Hokes Bluff – population 4,300 – in northern Alabama where he grew up. Everyone’s familiar with the long history of hits streaming out of the region that includes Muscle Shoals. It’s a living history, and the 31-year-old is part of a new renaissance of roots-minded artists in the format.
“I think our sound comes from the geography of where we grew up,” White described. “It’s in the pine trees, the rivers the mountains. It’s in the way the wind blows and the wildlife talks. It’s in the water; it’s in the weather, and the changes of the seasons. I think geography influences all music, people’s moods, their hurts, their hang-ups, and their happiness. It’s literally a spirit.” A mix of electric and acoustic guitar, bass & drums laying a thick groove, mandolin and fiddle swirling through the air and organ hovering above it all like the high harmony of a gospel choir. White’s sound is both familiar and modern, building on the successful band model laid down by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Allman Brothers Band and modern Country trailblazers like Eric Church and Zac Brown Band.
Like those groups, White’s been honing his sound on the road for years with his own band, The Big Fire. Made up of five like-minded friends, White says his chemistry with The Big Fire is essential to the diversity and high energy of his sound. The Big Fire band came together thoughtfully over 5 years with White making sure each player fit in his vision of a cohesive group. Guys who collaborate with him on the road and in the studio and as White puts it “we lean on each others ideas, talents and experiences.”
That camaraderie on the road has been paying off. Named one of Billboard Magazine’s 10 Hot Country Artists to Watch in 2015 and dubbed “an electric performer with a gospel howl” by Rolling Stone Country, White made Rolling Stone’s list of the 37 Best Things We Saw at CMA Fest 2014. White has opened for a number of outlaws, outsiders and like-minded edge-dwellers who’ve helped him grow his audience, including Willie Nelson, Eric Church, Toby Keith, Brantley Gilbert and Kid Rock. An opening slot for Lynyrd Skynyrd at the historic Ryman Auditorium, where White received a standing ovation to a sold out crowd, led to his current deal with Dot Records, the iconic Nashville record label brought back to life by Big Machine
