"There's nothing like playing music to bring a family
together," says Sharon White, but that's not exactly right; over 30 years have
shown that the music of The Whites - sisters, Sharon and Cheryl, and father
Buck - has just as much power to bring audiences together in a feeling that
resembles that of one giant, extended family.
The story of The Whites begins in Texas, when a young Buck White started his
musical career not long after the end of World War II, working the dance halls
and radio shows in a succession of bands.
Honky-tonk music called for the piano and the bluegrass mandolin, and so
he became proficient on both, absorbing the many varieties of Texas country and blues to fashion his own
distinctive style - one that kept him in steady demand as a sideman throughout
the 1950s. In 1961, tired of the
rough-and-tumble life of a honky-tonk musician and wanting to raise his family
in a more wholesome environment, White moved to Arkansas. Yet within a matter of months, he and wife Pat were once again making
music, forming a band with another couple that eventually called themselves the
Down Home Folks. As Sharon and Cheryl
grew, they, too, were drawn to music ("Mama said I could carry a tune before I
could talk," Sharon
recalls.) at first forming the Down Home Kids with the children of other Down
Home Folks members in the mid-1960s, then moving up to join their parents in a
growing number of bluegrass festival appearances.
The first big turning point for the Whites came in 1971,
when a successful trip to Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom festival convinced the
family that the time was right to move to Nashville
and pursue a more serious music career.
Though Pat retired from the band in 1973, the move paid off as Buck
White and the Down Home Folks began their recording career, featuring the
striking family harmonies and top-notch instrumental work that has
characterized their music ever since. The remainder of the decade saw them make a steady ascent in the world
of bluegrass, recording five acclaimed albums for various labels and working a
busy touring schedule, even as they gained a toehold in the country music field
thanks to their powerful vocals and broad repertoire. The former, in particular, attracted the
attention of Emmylou Harris, who brought them in to sing on her Blue Kentucky Girl album of 1979 and
then took them on the road with her as an opening act.
The early part of the 1980s brought The Whites - by then
renamed to reflect their family ties - to national prominence as their simple,
traditionally-rooted yet dynamic sound put them on Billboard's country charts
with a succession of Top 20 hits.
Favorites like their first Top 10, "You Put The Blue In Me," as well as
"Hangin' Around," "Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling," and "Pins And
Needles," - the latter all produced by Sharon's
husband, Ricky Skaggs (the two married in 1981) - introduced them to new
audiences, culminating in the induction as members of the Grand Ole Opry in
1984.
Since then, The Whites have entertained and inspired
literally millions of listeners at thousands of personal appearances with their
unique sound. Time has also brought
renewed attention to Buck White's mandolin playing; as bluegrass historian Neil
V. Rosenberg recently said, "insiders have long known of his prowess," and with
his appearance on Bluegrass Mandolin
Extravaganza, released in 1999, a wider audience has been introduced to his
masterful style and compositions.
Their first release for Skaggs Family Records, A
Lifetime in the Making, (produced by one of their former sidemen, the
legendary Jerry Douglas) proves once again The Whites are among the top ranks
of artists able to combine a respect for - and mastery of - traditional country
and bluegrass. "We're always falling
between the cracks when it comes to styles, but that's just the way our music
is. We have dobro, fiddle, and mandolin
on this album, as well as some piano. It
has the same kind of feel as those singles we made back in the early 1980s, but
it's as bluegrass as anything The Whites ever did." Released in the fall of 2000, A
Lifetime in the Making received substantial critical acclaim, winning
an INDIE Award for 'Best Country Album' (2001), as well as a Golden Voice Award
at CMA Music Festival's third annual awards show in Nashville.
In 2001, acoustic music blasted onto the mainstream with the
smash hit movie and soundtrack, O Brother
Where Art Thou? Buck and the girls
were hand selected among bluegrass music's finest to participate in the
soundtrack and appear in the film. The
Whites were recognized at the International Bluegrass Music Association's
(IBMA) Awards Show in 2001, where they won two awards including the
well-respected 'Album of the Year' honor. In November of 2001, The Whites were recognized at the 35th
Annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards in the highly esteemed 'Album of
the Year' category. Their involvement in
the film and soundtrack brought further acclaim the following year, including
the highest industry honor achievable - a GRAMMY Award - in the revered 'Album
of the Year' category; as well as the 'Album of the Year' nod from the Academy
of Country Music (ACM). Along with all
the industry accolades, The Whites made numerous appearances in promotion of O Brother, including their involvement
in the first 18-city 'Down from the Mountain' tour, a stop at David Letterman's
"Late Show" with fellow O Brother
artist, Dr. Ralph Stanley, and a featured spot on the follow up tours - the 40
plus city 'Down from the Mountain' summer tour in 2002 and the 'Great High
Mountain' tour in the summer of 2004.
In 2008, proud Texans Buck, Sharon, and Cheryl received the
ultimate honor from their home state with their induction into the Texas
Country Music Hall of Fame.
For those who have heard The Whites before, that's good news
indeed - and for those who haven't, it will be an exciting introduction to a
rich, yet comfortable musical world.
They may not use the name anymore, but Buck, Sharon, and Cheryl White
are still creating music that's as good and as real as everything conjured up
by the phrase "down home folks."