Your Country's Right Here: Amelia White Creates "Beautiful and Wild" Musical Tribute
posted in: Country • Features
Amelia White didn’t set out to write an album that honored her mentor, much-loved musician Duane Jarvis, perhaps best known for co writing Still I Long For Your Kiss with Lucinda Williams.
Yet when fifty-one-year-old Jarvis died of cancer in 2009, White felt her songwriting muse take over.
I think it just comes naturally to me, said White of the songwriting. A lot of people learn to write because they sing and play; I learned to sing and play because I write.
Although the songs on Beautiful and Wild, White’s recently released fifth studio album, are beautifully written, there’s no denying that she and the players on the album”including John Jackson (Dylan, Shelby Lynn), Frank Swart (Patty Griffin) and Tim Carroll (Elizabeth Cook)”are first rate.
That’s no accident, certainly not for White who is clearly overly modest about her playing that she began when she was a teen and has continued to hone through the years as she worked her way up from busker to touring musician.
White credits Jarvis with helping her move forward musically, taking time to work and talk with her even when he was on the road with everyone from Frank Black to John Prine.
Creating Beautiful and Wild was possible, White said, because of her musical partnership with producer Marco Giovino, a member of Band of Joy. He sorted through the forty-odd songs she sent him and helped her develop the focus of the album.
He’s very smart about old timey kind of stuff, said White. For me, I’m so grateful for what he did. He found the songs that struck him as strong and powerful and shared them with me and that started the process. He’s a drummer and I feel rhythm is my weakest point, so he was able to hear them in a different way and take me out of my comfort zone.
Although the eleven songs on the album have been compared with those of James Taylor and Neil Young, which is certainly accurate, White is no one’s imitator. Her songs have a rich alt-country sound that she’s truly made her own.
What White clearly has in common with Taylor, Young and other folk musicians are her emotive lyrics. Consider these from the title track of her latest album: Plum colored petals in March, blossoms snowing gently on my front porch. I think of you waiting by the sea, I hope that your body sets you free.
I lost a friend, said White when discussing what she hoped listeners would take away from their music. I want them to cry. I want them to laugh. I want them to be moved deeply.
Anyone who has heard her album will likely bet her hopes will be realized.
Find out more about White and her music on her Web site
Watch the video for the album’s title track: