Jordan White | |
|---|---|
 White performing in February 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jordan Frank White |
| Born | May 6, 1984 |
| Origin | Cranford, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | Flexitone Records, Pangea Recordings |
| Website | http://www.JordanWhiteMusic.com |
Jordan White (born May 6, 1984) is an American rock musician and singer-songwriter.
White was born May 6, 1984, in Cranford, New Jersey. His family later moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, [1] where he graduated from Nazareth Area High School in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
White has been awarded an A.A. from Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a B.A. from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and M.S. in psychological science from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. [2]
White explained that periods of depression that he experienced as a teenager led him to begin composing original music, saying in 2010 that music "saved me from being another statistic." [3]
White has performed as a solo artist, in cover bands, in an acoustic trio, [4] and in an alternative rock band, [5] [6] [7] KineticBlu, which formed in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 2008. The bad had been inactive until the acoustic act Foreplay, in which White, guitarist Brian Kibler and vocalist Tara Crowe, were performing merged with drummer Rob Lilly to relaunch the group. [8] The band was dubbed "The Lehigh Valley's Sexiest Rock Band" by Eventful.com, in February 2008. [9]
KineticBlu was named Alternative Addiction's "Next Big Thing" for October 2010. [10] The band performed at the fifth annual Bethlehem Harvest, the third annual Blue Mountain "Rock The Fall" Festival, [11] [12] and, in February 2011, the 15th annual Millennium Music Conference & Showcase in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, an event that draws nearly 300 musical acts from across the country. [13]
During the summer of 2015, White signed with Flexitone Records and began recording the upcoming single "Crazy Girl" with producer David Ivory. The track was mastered by Tom Coyne. [14] The song was released nationally on the Flexitone label in September 2015.
In January 2016, White recorded a new six-song EP titled High Road with Grammy Award-winning producer Jim Annunziato at Logos Studios in Massapequa, New York. Multi-platinum selling producer and songwriter Eric Sanicola and From Autumn to Ashes rhythm guitarist Scott Gross both contributing to the recording, and the EP was released by Pangea Recordings in October 2016. [15]
Critical reviews of White's "Four Songs" have been mixed with its single "Maybe Amy" placed in rotation at hundreds of U.S. and U.K. radio stations. In an interview on Philadelphia radio, he explained the EP was an "attempt to fuse the confessional singer-songwriter vibe stemming from Southern California during the 1970s with a 1990s alternative, full band sound." [16] [17] The Sentinel reported that Four Songs "contains moments of pop and flavor of southern rock paired with plenty of clean guitar licks amongst White's clear and distinctive vocals."
That Music Mag reported that "White's catchy lyrics really do not really draw attention but are easily stuck in your head, although he seems to be giving you just what he knows." [18]
The Owl Mag described the EP as "taking music back to beautiful simplicity." [19]
One Minute Sound reported that White's Four Songs "kicks off with the track "Maybe, Amy," which is a throwback to the sound of 90s pop icons like Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20; the EP then rolls into 'Bloodshot' and features heavier driven guitar riffs and a solo borrowed from the pages of Counting Crows. 'Before I Go Out', the third track, is probably the favorite and features subtle slide guitar licks and a quirky piano line. White undeniably has an ear for writing catchy, radio-friendly songs and is extremely talented, however his musical style is a bit outdated Even when he is pushing out creativity, it still sounds as if he is trying too hard to emulate his influences. White's voice is clean and crisp, though it may not be the composition as much as the production to blame." [20]
Dustin Schoof of The Express-Times wrote that, "White goes from belting out a tender, folksy acoustic tune ("Maybe, Amy") to plugging in and cutting loose on "Bloodshot", highlighted by a smoking guitar lead. "Before I Go Out" is more of a roots rocker, complete with background harmonica. "No Promises" is a piano ballad that is heartfelt without veering into cheesy territory. It's a balanced and robust and shows off White's skills as a musician and songwriter. [21]
Michael Phoenix of The Hub wrote that the lead single "Maybe, Amy" "could have been from the television shows Saved by the Bell or California Dreams but gave the rest of the album a positive review, writing that, "White comes back, hitting you with the hard beat of 'Bloodshot', a great change up and a way to keep your attention, while 'Before I Go Out' is a good transition song in leading into the piano ballad 'No Promises' with references made to Philadelphia and the Jersey shore, leading you to feel the passion of the song from both the music and lyrics."
DJ "RJ" from WPHT-FM's "The Note" described the collection of songs as "engaging, thoughtful, and very focused; it's an enjoyable listen from a talented singer." [22]
Sandy Lo of WHOA magazine wrote that, "White's music is certainly lyrically based which is a breath of fresh air nowadays with so much machinery and big beats thrown into songs." White also responded regarding his much publicized affair with American Idol that "the problem [with the show] is the judges dismissed the best singers but would then send a guy through wearing a clown costume." [23]
In June 2011, White said his musical influences "started with singer-songwriters out of the 1970s," and referenced Van Morrison, Jackson Browne, and Billy Joel as influences. [24] He also cites Guns N' Roses, Counting Crows, [25] Tom Petty, [26] The Beatles, Ritchie Valens, and The Clash. [27] His music is considered a mixture of alternative rock and acoustic-confessional pop-rock. [28]
In November 2007, White was a finalist in the Lehigh Valley Acoustic Competition and, in 2008, KineticBlu was nominated for two Lehigh Valley Music Awards. In August 2010, White was nominated for three 2010 Lehigh Valley Music Awards for Best Songwriter, Best Lyricist, and Best Band Website, which included 3,000 other fan and industry nominees. On December 5, 2010, White performed at the awards ceremony in Allentown, [29] which was well received. [30] White was nominated for two Montgomery/Bucks County music awards in November 2011 and also nominated for two more Lehigh Valley Music Awards, Best Songwriter and Best Male Vocalist, in April 2012 returned to WFMZ-TV. [31]
In 2012, White was nominated for three Lehigh Valley Music Awards, including Best Lyricist, Best Singer-Songwriter, Best Folk Band/Soloist. The same year, he was nominated for Outstanding Songwriter in the 2012 Philadelphia music awards, and, in November 2013, was nominated for five Philadelphia Music Awards, including Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Singer-Songwriter, Outstanding Male Vocalist, and other awards. White accompanied American Idol 's "Top 100" contestants Tyler Grady and Tim Marchetto at the 2014 Lehigh Valley Music Awards on March 9, 2014. [32]
In August 2021, White began chatting with Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash on Twitter after White attended the band's first North American tour date of 2021 at Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Both musicians follow each other's Twitter profiles. [33] "The people who are successfully making a living playing music, the reason they got to that level is because they see music as a lifestyle," White told the Northeast Times in June 2011, adding, "[This] requires talent, dedication and endurance." [34] In July 2011, he told the Sun-Gazette that, "there are a lot of setbacks and accomplishments. Often you take two steps forward and one step back. It's just how it goes." [35] In February 2015 article, White said he has recurring bouts with depression but is undergoing treatment to "stop dwelling on the past and focus on the future" but admitted it "could be a lifetime battle". [36]
White is a Nissan and Mazda racing enthusiast, and has custom Datsuns, Nissan Sentras and 200sxes that are powered by the SR20DE and SR20VE engines. He mentioned that if he wasn't a musician he "would love to work on race cars." White says that when he first purchased a brand new Chevrolet Corvette he soon returned it "because it just wasn't me." He is also a registered independent and animal lover, owning Chihuahuas, Dobermans, Siamese cats, and recently adopted a 2 lb chihuahua from a rescue. His mother also raises seeing-eye German Shepherds. [37]
White is a lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fan. In an interview with Mike Viso from Through The Fence Baseball, he described the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies victory in the 2008 World Series, saying, "I'll always know exactly where I was when it happened. I had waited for it for 20 years. The 1993 World Series loss to the Blue Jays crushed me. I was just a little kid. I stood there in shock as I watched Joe Carter round the bases jumping up and down. The Phillies winning it all was something I thought I'd never see in my lifetime. When you break it down it really is just a game, but it was one of the few things not in my control I wanted to witness before I'm gone and I'm really thankful." [38]
White has also spoken about hearing loss among performing musicians, saying he did not use ear protection but that, "It's something to think about more as I older and want to protect my senses. After shows, I'll have this ringing in my ear where it sounds like there's a television on," he said in 2011. [39] White claims to have developed a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder over the years, noting his tendency "to perform certain actions in sequences of even numbers" and says he is "obsessed with the number 4" and also has a fear of flying on airplanes, and has never flown. [40]
White currently lives in suburban Philadelphia.
Four Songs EP (2012) Track listing:
"Crazy Girl" (3:54)
High Road EP (2016)
Allentown is a city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the third-most-populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.
Eric M. Bazilian is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band The Hooters. He wrote "One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne in 1995.
Musikfest is an American music festival that has been held annually since 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the nation's largest non-gated free music festival. The festival begins on the first Friday in August, though it has been preceded since 2015 with a Thursday preview night involving the premium stage and adjacent areas. The festival ends the second Sunday thereafter.
Slau is an American singer/songwriter and producer of Ukrainian descent living in New York City. He is best known in the podcasting and podsafe music world for producing the Podsafe for Peace holiday anthem "If Every Day Were Christmas".
Robert William "Robbie" Fulks is an American alternative country singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and long-time resident of Chicago, Illinois. He has released 15 albums over a career spanning more than 30 years. His 2016 record Upland Stories was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album and the song "Alabama at Night" was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song.
Marah is an American rock and roll band that formed in the early 1990s and is closely associated with the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York. The band is known for its intense live performances, classic rock production style, and association with authors Nick Hornby and Sarah Vowell and musicians Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle.
Robert Andrew Hyman is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard and accordion player, producer, and arranger, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.
Nazareth High School is a public high school located in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the only high school in the Nazareth Area School District and serves grades 9 through 12. Its mascot is the Blue Eagle and school colors are blue and white.
Matthew John Corby is an Australian singer-songwriter. He achieved his commercial breakthrough with his fourth EP, Into the Flame (2011), which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and by April 2012, was certified 6× Platinum by ARIA. His 2011 single "Brother" and his 2013 single "Resolution" both won ARIA Music Awards for Song of the Year. Corby has released three studio albums, Telluric (2016), Rainbow Valley (2018) and Everything's Fine.
Justin Townes Earle was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut, EP Yuma (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year in 2009 and for Song of the Year in 2011 for "Harlem River Blues". His father is alternative country artist Steve Earle.
The culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania dates back to the early 18th century settlement of the city and the surrounding Lehigh Valley, which was then part of the Province of Pennsylvania, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, by German immigrants almost exclusively affiliated the Lutheran, Moravian, and Reformed faiths, three of the most prominent Protestant denominations.
Scott H. Biram aka The Dirty Old One Man Band is an American musician whose music draws from a variety of styles, including blues, punk and outlaw country. One of the prominent musicians of the one-man band musical genre, Biram has appeared on national television shows such as NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and performed in prestigious and legendary venues such as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, CBGB in New York City, Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California, The Fillmore in San Francisco, California, Roxy Theater in West Hollywood, California, The Roundhouse in London, United Kingdom, and Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His music has been featured in many American television shows and films. He has also appeared as himself in several films and documentaries. The Dirty Old One Man Band has continuously toured in the U.S., Canada, and Europe since 1998.
Papa vs Pretty was an Australian rock band from Sydney, New South Wales. Originally the solo act of then 15-year-old Thomas Rawle in 2006, Papa vs Pretty became a three-piece band in 2008 with the addition of Rawle's friends Angus Gardiner and Tom Myers, and a quartet in 2012 with the arrival of Luke Liang. On Monday 30 June 2014, the band announced their breakup.
Toy Soldiers were an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group's sound melds elements of folk, roots rock, blues, and soul.
George Joseph Hrab is a drummer, guitarist, composer and podcaster known for performing rock, funk and jazz and for exploring atheist, skeptic and science themes in his work. He has released six albums as a solo artist.
The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup.
Andy Kravitz is an American drummer and percussionist, audio engineer, record producer, and songwriter. He has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, winning several. He lives near Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California.
Jennifer Decilveo is an American Grammy-winning, Brit and Mercury Prize-nominated record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. Her production and songwriting credits include Beth Ditto of The Gossip, Bat for Lashes, Andra Day, Porridge Radio, Miley Cyrus, Hozier, Melanie Martinez, Anne-Marie, Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes, The Wombats, Rae Morris, Marina, Ryn Weaver, Lucius, White Reaper, and Angelique Kidjo. Decilveo co-wrote and produced Andra Day's Rise Up on her critically acclaimed album Cheers to the Fall. The album was nominated for Best R&B Album and the album's main single, Rise Up, was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards. Decilveo and Day are winners of BET's 2016 Soul Train Music Awards The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award. Decilveo also produced Marina's Man's World which was nominated for the 2021 Ivor Novello Awards for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Michael Wilson Hardy, known professionally as HARDY, is an American country rock music singer and songwriter. He has written songs for Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, Blake Shelton, Dallas Smith, Thomas Rhett, and Morgan Wallen. He released his debut album A Rock for Big Loud Records, as well as the mixtape Hixtape, Vol. 1. His singles "Give Heaven Some Hell", "One Beer" and "Wait in the Truck" charted in the US and Canada and he was featured on the Dallas Smith song "Some Things Never Change". His most recent album, The Mockingbird & the Crow, topped the country music charts in early 2023.