He may be new to the solo Americana scene, but don’t consider him a musical novice. When Matthew E. White was 11, he took up the drums and played with such gusto that his mother signed him up for guitar lessons. “She paid for my lessons so that I’d learn how to play guitar; she could deal with having a guitar in the house,” he says with a laugh. “I practiced the hell out of some guitar.”
White, now 32 and based out of Richmond, has been making music ever since, and his enthusiasm and versatility hasn’t waned. He played guitar in psychedelic folk rock band The Great White Jenkins and currently leads avant-garde jazz big band Fight the Big Bull. He’s also the co-founder of Spacebomb Records, an old-school record label with a house band, producers, and an entire crew of people dedicated to recording and releasing the music of Richmond artists.
But it was only when White ventured into a solo career making soulful, gospel-infused Americana music, that he won the attention of music critics and a wider audience.
White’s 2012 solo debut, Big Inner, was an experiment for the longtime musician. He and fellow Spacebomb house bandmates—bassist Cameron Ralston, drummer Pinson Chanselle and guitarist Trey Pollard—wanted to try something new. White, who had yet to sing professionally, put his sultry voice to the microphone and began to lead the band’s direction.
He wrote lyrics with longtime friend and songwriting partner Andy Jenkins. He composed keys and horn arrangements and worked with bigger ensembles, like gospel choirs, to compliment the Spacebomb band’s subtle rock, country and jazz-influenced sound. “It was very much a ‘write the songs, record the bass and drums, put strings, horn and a choir on it and see what we get’ effort,” says White.
The album was an opportunity for White to develop his vocabulary as an artist, to put together lyrics, arrangements and production elements that define his identity as “Matthew E. White.” It may have been accidental, it may have been an experiment, but White cultivated a distinct sound, one that firmly placed Big Inner on 2012 year-end best-of lists in The Guardian, Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound and other popular music criticism platforms.
White refines that artistic vocabulary on his latest release, Fresh Blood, employing the same techniques and sounds but with greater precision. The songs are deeper, more personal and more carefully crafted, and while White continues to play with lush arrangements, the production of the album is more nuanced. Overall, says White, Fresh Blood is a more personal album than Big Inner, because it’s a further development of his artistry and identity. The music, though still a collaborative effort, is even more his own.
“I hope that this is what making records will be for me for a long time to come,” says White. “It’s important to stick to making what you make and avoid the temptation to write hit songs or write for current trends. I’m an artist and I have a voice to share. It’s important that I always be on the path to myself.”
White found songs for Fresh Blood in many places, from personal experiences and his past to lines from books and current events. In “Fruit Trees,” he sings about seduction, while in “Tranquility,” he reacts to the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. “Holy Moly” laments sexual abuse in churches, and in “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Cold,” White playfully sings about his own genre- bending style.
A good song can come from anywhere, says White, but what gives a song legs to stand on is its power to distill an emotion or affirm a thought, to pinpoint the essence of human experience.
White only records what he feels are his best songs (theme doesn’t matter all that much to him), and he is grateful that, right now, audiences are packing into venues to hear him play the music he loves making.
“It’s so rewarding. I work my butt off to keep the momentum going and am thankful for the opportunity [to make music for a living],” he says. “This is something I’ll always do, but I might not always be compensated for it, because you don’t know what people are going to be interested in.”
For now, he’s enjoying the ride. White recently returned from a multi-city European tour and kicks off an American leg of the Fresh Blood tour tonight at the Southern.
White likes to play with live arrangements—he usually tours with a band and has occasionally performed with full strings, horns and a choir. “It can get a little rowdy,” says White with a laugh. At the Southern, however, White will play with only one other musician, guitarist Alan Parker. This stripped-down lineup, he says, helps him get to the intimate nature of his songs and feels most true to the essence of Fresh Blood.
It’s this sort of experimentation, the willingness to always try something new, that drives White’s creativity. “There’s no formula for making good music,” he says. “If there was, someone would have figured it out and would be making hit songs all the time. But nobody can figure it out, and that’s why making music is exciting to me. You don’t know what’s going to work every time, and that keeps me coming back for more.”
–Erin O’Hare
Matthew E. White plays at The Southern Cafe and Music Hall tonight.