Jim White | |
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 White in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Davis Pratt [1] |
| Born | March 9, 1957 [2] California |
| Genres | Americana, alternative country |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, singer-songwriter, artist, author |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Labels | Loose Music (Europe); Yep Roc (North America) |
| Website | jimwhitemusic.net |
Michael Davis Pratt (born March 9, 1957), known professionally as Jim White, is an American singer-songwriter, visual artist and author.
White was born in California but moved to Pensacola, Florida at the age of 5. He was deeply influenced in his childhood by the spectacle of Pentecostal religion and gospel music. [3] According to various sources, he has been a ditch digger, a suntan oil salesman, a landscaper, a dishwasher, a fry cook, a fashion model, a fashion photographer, a professional surfer and a New York City cab driver. [3] [4] Before embarking on a music career, White attended film school at New York University. Soon after finishing his lengthy thesis at the university, White entered a self-described "deep hole of sickness and depression and poverty". [5] It was during this period that White began writing songs again after a long hiatus, many of which would appear on his debut album Wrong Eyed Jesus, released by David Byrne's boutique label Luaka Bop. [6]
White's live shows, particularly when touring solo, can be characterized as off-beat, blending his playlist with open discussion with the audience, anecdotal storytelling derived from his own life experiences, all of which is typically humorous and insightful, with a deep sense of his feeling for the broken beauty of humanity.
White's albums often feature unlikely collaborations. On Wrong-Eyed Jesus, folk singer Victoria Williams sings on the track "Angel-Land"; British electronica trio Morcheeba produced and played on three tracks on No Such Place alongside Sade keyboardist Andrew Hale, who produced three tracks on the same album. Aimee Mann, Barenaked Ladies, and jazz guitarist Bill Frisell appear on Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See , which was produced by Joe Henry, Tucker Martine, and Jim White himself. In an interview with David Byrne, White described the making of the album. [7]
White's 2012 album Where It Hits You marked his first effort after an amicable parting of ways with Byrne's Luaka Bop. The record features guest appearances by members the roots group Olabelle, Terri Binion and Shak Nasty. Where It Hits You was released on the Yep Roc label. [8]
In 2017 White's album Waffles, Triangles & Jesus came out via the PIAPTK label [9] in the US and Loose in the UK. White was joined by musical group Hog Eyed Man, Holly Golightly, [10] and Cicada Rhythm.
White's 2020 album Misfit's Jubilee [11] marked a departure from his more solemn introspective previous work, featuring and upbeat collaboration with Belgian recording artists Geert Hellings and Nicolas Rombouts. White's longtime drummer Marlon Patton played drums on Misfit's Jubilee, as he did on White's previous four solo records. [12]
White's debut album Wrong Eyed Jesus is considered a minor classic in the Americana genre, and his fan base includes various entertainment luminaries such as David Byrne, Matt Groening, and Vince Gilligan. [13] The song "Wordmule" appeared in the Breaking Bad episode "Blood Money", while "Static on the Radio" appeared in the end credits of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie .
In 2003 White appeared as defacto tour guide in the documentary film Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus , exploring oral and song traditions of the poor white US south. [14] White appeared alongside writer Harry Crews and musicians Johnny Dowd, The Handsome Family and David Eugene Edwards. Before achieving cult status, the film was featured in festivals around the world, winning Best Documentary at the Seattle Film Festival. [15]
In 2006, Jim White collaborated with Johnny Dowd and Willie B and formed a group called Hellwood; in 2006, the band toured throughout Europe to promote the album Chainsaw of Life. White served as producer and songwriter on a collaboration alongside Tucker Martine and blues singer Linda Delgado on a project titled Mama Lucky. Mama Lucky's first release Permanent Stranger was released in a limited fashion in February 2009. [16]
In 2010 White created Sounds of the Americans, an experimental collaboration with guitarist Dan Nettles based on the soundtrack they composed for a Juilliard Music School theater production. [17]
Continuing his pattern of alternating between solo projects and collaborations, in 2014 White teamed up with the Packway Handle Band to release the bluegrass hybrid Take It Like A Man, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard bluegrass chart. [18] [19]
In 2023, White released Permanent Stranger under the band name "Mama Lucky," his side project with Portland-based producer Tucker Martine. [20] He also co-produced Ane Diaz's "Despechada" album [21] and produced Ben De La Cour's critically acclaimed record Sweet Anhedonia (Jullian Records), [22] which appeared on several "Best of 2023" lists. [23]
"Superwhite! / Wild-Eyed Tree", The Douglas Hyde Gallery, 2009. In conjunction with art exhibit. "Includes autobiographical text, Superwhite (Another True Story), and previously unreleased lyrics by Jim White. Also included are images of the exhibition and photographs by Jim White." [26]
In 2013 White's story "The Bottom" was published in the literary journal Radio Silence, and in 2014, it was awarded the prestigious Pushcart Prize for Short Fiction. [27]
After publishing work in various periodicals over his 20-year musical career, White's debut novel Incidental Contact was released in 2022.
"Blessings and Curses: Another True Story" - Illustrated pamphlet with story. 2001 Luaka Bop
White is the father of Atlantic Records recording artist Willow Avalon. [28]
David Byrne is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American new wave band Talking Heads.
Vincent Eugene Craddock, known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly. His chart career was brief, especially in his home country of the US, where he notched three top 40 hits in 1956 and 1957, and never charted in the top 100 again. In the UK, he was a somewhat bigger star, racking up eight top 40 hits from 1956 to 1961.
Luaka Bop is a New York–based record label founded by musician David Byrne, former lead singer and guitarist for the art rock–new wave band Talking Heads. What began with Byrne making cassettes of his favorite Tropicália tracks for his friends became a full-fledged record label in 1988 after Byrne received a solo artist deal from Warner Bros.
Johnny Shuggie Otis is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist.
Antônio José Santana Martins, known professionally as Tom Zé, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who was influential in the Tropicália movement of 1960s Brazil. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into relative obscurity: it was only in the 1990s, when musician and Luaka Bop label head David Byrne discovered Zé's 1975 album Estudando o Samba and then released reissues of his work, that Zé returned to performing and releasing new material.
Geggy Tah is a band initially composed of writer/singer/bassist Tommy Jordan and keyboard/guitarist Greg Kurstin. Each of them has a younger sister who was unable to pronounce her brother's name when very young; "Geggy" and "Tah" were the baby girls' mispronunciations of their brothers' names.
Johnny Dowd is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic elements in the lyrics as well as in the music. There is also a strong undercurrent of black humor and the absurd in his work.
Mimi Goese is an American professional musician.
Uh-Oh is the second studio album by Scottish-American musician David Byrne, released in 1992.
Los de Abajo are a band from Mexico City founded in 1992 as a Latin ska four-piece. Since then they have expanded to eight members and widened their musical influences to include rock, salsa, reggae, ska, cumbia, Son Jarocho and banda sinaloense. Founder member Liber Terán is the main vocalist and writes many of the songs, although all band members receive equal pay for their contributions.
Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See is an album by Jim White, released in 2004. The co-vocals on "Static on the Radio" are by Aimee Mann.
Jamie Morrison is a British musician, producer and writer from Scotland, best known as the drummer in Welsh band Stereophonics and 86TVs. He is also known for his playing with Noisettes, Drewford Alabama and releasing music through his label Ninjas & Wolves under the name Pop Morrison.
This article catalogs the ongoing discography of Scottish-American recording artist, composer, musician, and producer David Byrne, former singer for Talking Heads.
William Ezechukwu Onyeabor was a Nigerian funk musician and businessman. His music was widely heard in Nigeria in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite his success, he remained an enigmatic, private, and reclusive figure.
Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus is a 2003 documentary film about the American South starring Jim White. Commissioned by the BBC, it documents the intersection of country music and Christianity in the United States. It was inspired by White's similarly titled album The Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted Wrong-Eyed Jesus.
Delicate Steve is the stage name of musician Steve Marion, an American multi-instrumentalist who leads the band of the same name. Delicate Steve's sound has been described as hand-crafted with elements of progressive rock, folksy twang, African rhythms, surf rock and 1970s pop. Marion has collaborated with a wide range of artists in a variety of styles and genres, performing live and recording in-studio with artists such as The Black Keys, Paul Simon, Amen Dunes, Mac DeMarco, Tame Impala, and others.
Kelly Pratt is an arranger and multi-instrumentalist best known for his horn work in the band Beirut and with David Byrne.
Javelin is a production duo based in Brooklyn, New York City. Cousins George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk started making music together in Providence, RI in 2005, although their earliest tape experiments date back to childhood. Each member is a multi-instrumentalist. George plays the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and mandolin, while Tom plays the cello and piano. The duo has been described as "obsessed with old school hip-hop of an ‘80s vintage". While creating mostly mellow electro-pop/80s-synth style music, the band's music is very eclectic and they have even produced a country music album.
David Piltch is a Canadian bassist and session musician.
Mt. Joy is an American five-piece indie rock band based in Los Angeles with roots in Philadelphia. They consist of members Matt Quinn, Sam Cooper (guitar), Sotiris Eliopoulos (drums), Jackie Miclau (keyboards), and Michael Byrnes (bass). The band debuted in 2016 with their single "Astrovan", recorded in Los Angeles by Quinn, Cooper, and Byrnes. This was followed up in 2017 by the trio of singles "Sheep", "Cardinal", and "Silver Lining", with "Silver Lining" eventually charting at the top spot of the Billboard Triple A charts. On March 2, 2018, they released their debut eponymous studio album. Between the next two years, Mt. Joy performed at festivals and on tour as support acts, as well as headlining a North American and European tour. After a tour with The Lumineers was cut short due to COVID-19, Mt. Joy released their second studio album, Rearrange Us on June 5, 2020. Their third studio album, Orange Blood, was released on June 17, 2022.
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