Honest, literate, incisive lyrics, a gift for melody and a sturdy grasp on songcraft. This is what sets Jason White apart from the pack. Both his standout debut Shades of Gray and his latest compelling effort Tonight’s Top Story are blessed with a level of songcraft too rarely heard in today’s up-and-coming artists. Concerned with neither easy fame nor slick production, White writes songs from the gut - songs that ask questions, that explore, that raise debate.
“I have this idea that the art of the popular song sort of reached a climax in the 1960s in terms of how the culture viewed it,” White says. “Things started off with ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ and then some of the early great singer/songwriters had this idea that a popular song could be so much more. It could be a protest song or a complicated, emotional song or it could be a political song. Not only could you get people to dance and enjoy it, you could actually get people thinking. You could change the way people think or move people to do things - politically, socially, whatever. That’s the kind of music I grew up listening to. And, to me, that trend has completely gone the other way and it’s never turned back. To the point where in so many songs these days the lyrics are just throw-aways. That’s my focus - to try and ask a little more of the songs and work a little harder at making the songs mean something. I’m trying to carry that torch.”
Whether they take place in smoky taverns, speeding cars or the solemn quiet of late-night contemplation, White’s songs play out like novels distilled to their most primal emotions - characters grasping for love, for oblivion, for acceptance, for a way out.
White’s musical background, which varied widely before he came to rest in Nashville, certainly informs his complexity as a writer. “I dropped out of college up in Vermont after a year because all I was doing was playing guitar in local bars,” White says with a grin. “Then I had a power pop band called the Janglers that was based in Cleveland for eight years. We toured all over the country in a van and did the whole indie rock thing. We made two cds, then that band broke up at the end of ’93.” From there, White went on to found Jason White and the Dying Breed, a band which quickly caught the attention of the majors. “I got a record deal on Universal in New York, moved to Nashville and made a record with John Simon (producer for the likes of the Band, Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin). That record never got released and I got stuck in contract hell for two and a half years. Got out of the deal, took the money they gave me and made Shades of Gray with Viktor.”
For Tonight’s Top Story, Jason White teamed up once again with Shades of Gray producer and bass player Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Union Station, Natalie MacMaster and many others) and an outstanding group of musicians, including drummer Rick Lonow, guitarist Jack Silverman and horn man Jim Hoke. The resulting record is a fiery blend of power pop, straight-up rock and smart, intensely emotional balladry - a little bit of everything woven into one cohesive whole. “One of my earliest records was the White Album,” White says. “It’s all over creation but it still works as an album. There’s not a song on there that seems out of place to me. That’s always been ingrained in me- that great artists play jazz and country and blues and funk and everything else and it’s all part of the equation.” White certainly does that here, touching on Greg Brown’s melancholic poetry in “One Long Goodbye,” sleazy, banging rock grooves on the highlight track “Fat City Saturday Night” and Lennon-esque beauty on “Woman of the World.”
“Slow News Day,” the opening track on Tonight’s Top Story, is a prime example of White’s complexity as a songwriter. Couched in its churning groove and fluid melody is a dark chronicle of the little tragedies that too often slip through the cracks. “It struck me that a lot of the songs on this record are stories, that it could almost be like picking up a newspaper,” White explains. “That got me in the mindset of thinking about news stories. I’d always wanted to write a song about how, when you’re on your commute to or from work and there’s a crash, a guy will get on the radio and say, ‘on the corner of such-and-such, we have an injury wreck.’ And your only concern is how you’re going to get around it and get home and get out of this fucking traffic jam. Nevermind that there’s someone hurt. We’ve become desensitized to those sorts of things. So much goes by without anyone ever noticing.”
White’s complexity was further validated when country star Tim McGraw chose to cover “Red Ragtop” from Shades of Gray for his eponymous 2002 release. Not only did the tune become an immediate hit, it also gained notoriety as one of the most controversial songs of the year, landing White in the national papers and even on CNN where he debated the song’s discussions of abortion and hopelessness. It seems that even in the lighthearted realms of country radio he isn’t content unless he causes a stir. Even if it’s just by asking an honest question or two. This also raised White’s commercial stock considerably, turning his name into a buzz word in the Nashville songwriting community.
As a songwriter, Jason White balances studied craft with spontaneity. “I’m a bar napkin kind of guy,” he laughs. “I don’t have a studio setup at home. I have an acoustic guitar and a box of napkins.”
“I subscribe to the theory that I heard Keith Richards describe one time,” he says of his process. “This was years and years ago and I’m totally paraphrasing. But, I subscribe to the idea that all the songs are out there floating around. There are songs that are meant to be heard and meant to be channeled. I think, as a songwriter, if you’re really in tune to that, you pick up little fragments of songs here and there. Every now and then you get lucky and one just flows through you. But most of the time, you get little glimpses of an idea - a phrase or line or lyrical idea or melodic idea. To me, it’s all a matter of cataloging those ideas in my head.”
Jason White combines the pop know-how of Neil Finn with the gritty outlook of Tom Waits or John Hiatt and the sheer gorgeous melodic sensibilities of the genre’s greatest. He crafts songs that blur the lines between pop music and art. Songs that are unafraid to ask questions, to indict and to revel in their own seamy, sexy madness. Songs that are exactly what we need today - honest and unflinching.
"...his songs indict, mourn celebrate, and snicker - if the fact that White's publishing company is Acuff-Rose isn't assurance enough of his writing ability, then one listen to the record will be - White has secured a place in the relatively small and very exclusive club of young, gutsy, seriously good Nashville songwriters"
- Performing Songwriter Magazine
"Jason White's debut album is the best disc I've heard so far this year - the best as in nothing else has even come close...When we sigh about the sort of music they never play on pop radio anymore, Jason White is what we're wishing for."
- Stephen H. Segal, In Pittsburgh Weekly
"White alone is worth the price of admission. Shades Of Gray, his debut album, is as poetically populist as Springsteen, as clever as Elvis Costello and as catchy as Squeeze. You can hear traces of each in the brilliant slices of life White concocts. His hook-filled, heartfelt tunes would sound terrific pumping from the car radio, every hour on the hour. A world where "Ghost of Thoreau" or "Red Ragtop" is Top 40 material would be a beautiful place."
- Harrison, Atlanta Journal Constitution
"He fearlessly tackles difficult subject matter (rape, murder, drug addiction) and still writes catchy-as-hell pop tunes without losing the poignancy such subjects demand. He's a magnetic live performer and a writer with a wry wit and a social conscious. Simply put, he writes memorable songs with hooks that go on for miles."
- John Hood, Music Row Magazine
"With the release of this indie album, this White guy has vaulted himself into the lofty territory of being among the best writers in town, and I don't say that lightly. This man is absolutely fearless. He can write a song about anything...if this all sounds interesting, head down to Tower Records and pick this record up. In fact, crawl on your knees over gravel if you have to..."
- Charles Earle, In Review, Nashville
"The lesson of universal human vulnerability at the core of Jason White's songwriting is well-traveled territory, but White has a serious gift for creating lyrics that jump into the third dimension, forcing you to pay attention. His debut release, Shades Of Gray, resonates on both an emotional and musical level, with its unpretentious pop appeal that feels like a Nashville take on classic XTC or Elvis Costello. "
- Hutchinson, Creative Loafing Atlanta
"...White's singing, writing and playing carry the day with this year's Nashville self-released album most deserving of the big time"
- Craig Havinghurst, The Tennessean
"Too literate for Music Row, too mordant for the sensitive singer/songwriter set, White has a rocking mean streak and melodic gifts that place him firmly in the company of Music City's best tunesmiths...The songs on his new LP boast cold-blooded wordplay and a skeptical, lacerating wit..."
- Jim Ridley, Nashville Scene
"If Jason White got paid by the word, he'd be the richest songwriter in town. His narrative songs require constant attention, but they also reward the listener with great lines like 'I go out with Franklin and I come home with Lincoln'...."
- Craig Shelburne, Nashville.Citysearch.Com