Bryan White
Bryan White at CMA Music Festival in June 2010.
Background information
Birth name	Bryan Shelton White
Born	(1974-02-17) February 17, 1974 (age 38)[1]
Origin	Lawton, Oklahoma, USA[1]
Genres	Country/Pop
Occupations	Singer-Songwriter-Producer
Instruments	Vocals Guitar drums
Years active	1994–Present
Labels	Asylum Warner Bros. Just A Pup Inc.
Associated acts	Steve Wariner, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain
Website	http://www.bryanwhite.com/

Bryan Shelton White (born February 17, 1974) is an American country music artist. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's Between Now and Forever, were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and 1997's The Right Place was certified gold. His fourth album, 1999's How Lucky I Am, produced 2 Top 40 hits with singles, "You're Still Beautiful To Me," and, "God Gave Me You."

White has charted seventeen singles on the Billboard country charts, of which six reached Number One and the first four were consecutive: "Someone Else's Star" in 1995, "Rebecca Lynn" and "I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore" "So Much for Pretending" in 1996, and "Sittin' on Go" in 1997. "So Much for Pretending" was the most successful of these songs, spending two weeks at Number One.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

White was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, in 1974,^[1] and raised in Oklahoma City.^[2] Raised by a musical family he listened to all kinds of music. His parents played in cover bands in Oklahoma City. White began playing the drums at age five through the instruction of his father.^[1] He also played in his mother's rock band and his father's country band as a teenager, and was encouraged to take up singing after his mother heard him sing during a band rehearsal of a band in which White was the drummer.^[1] White was exposed to all styles of music because of his parents but Country Music is where he gravitated. He heard Steve Wariner when he was fourteen and that's what caused him to want to be an artist. White began developing throughout his teens. His mother, at that time, worked at a studio in Oklahoma City where White worked as a demo singer off and on. White bartered with them to let him record two songs that he had written. Those demos are what piqued the interest of renowned Oklahoma City session guitarist, Joe Settlemires. Settlemires sent the demos to Nashville session guitarist and producer, Billy Joe Walker Jr. Walker called White and invited him to come to Nashville to meet. That trip proved to be a success. He befriended Walker and they decided to work together.

He moved to Nashville three months after graduating from high school. Soon after, White signed his first songwriting deal with Glen Campbell Music and also developed a rapport as a demo singer. White also sold t-shirts for the band Pearl River, in which his friend Derek George played guitar. The band regularly let White onstage to perform a song during their concerts.^[3] Billy Joe Walker Jr took White to producer Kyle Lehning, the latter of whom helped him sign a contract with Asylum Records in 1994.^[1]

Recording career[link]

[edit] Bryan White

White released his debut single "Eugene You Genius" in late 1994.^[1] Although it failed to reach Top 40 on the Hot Country Songs charts, his debut album was released. The next single, "Look at Me Now", peaked at number 24, followed by the consecutive number 1 hits "Someone Else's Star" and "Rebecca Lynn". The success of these latter two singles helped Bryan White achieve a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies. The album included two songs which would later be singles for other artists in 1997: "Nothin' Less Than Love" (recorded by The Buffalo Club) and "Going, Going, Gone" (recorded by Neal McCoy). Also in 1995, Sawyer Brown charted in the Top Five with "I Don't Believe in Goodbye", a song which White co-wrote with Scotty Emerick and Sawyer Brown lead singer Mark Miller. In 1996, White earned the Country Music Association's Horizon Award and is the youngest Male, to date, to have garnered this award. Also, he won Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist award^[1] and has also achieved a Grammy award for his recording of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken/I'll Fly Away" on The Sparrow Label's Amazing Grace Vol 2.

[edit] Between Now and Forever

White's second album, Between Now and Forever, was released in early 1996.^[1] Its lead-off, "I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore", reached number 1 on the country charts, followed by the number 1 "So Much for Pretending", the number 10 "That's Another Song", 1997's "Sittin' on Go". Like his debut album, Between Now and Forever was certified platinum. That same year, Diamond Rio charted in the Top 5 with "Imagine That", which White co-wrote with Derek George and John Tirro.

[edit] The Right Place

The Right Place followed in 1997. Its title track, "Love Is the Right Place", was a Top 5 hit, although later singles proved less successful. "One Small Miracle" peaked at 15, and "Bad Day to Let You Go" peaked in at 30 in 1998. The album earned a gold certification. Also in 1998, White made a guest appearance on Shania Twain's country and pop hit "From This Moment On" released on Shania's 1997 album Come On Over There are several edits of the song, but it achieved the #1 slot. The final single from The Right Place, "Tree of Hearts", said to be a fan favorite, failed to make Top 40. White followed up the album with a Christmas EP entitled Dreaming of Christmas.^[1] The same year, he was asked by David Foster to be the singing voice for the lead character, Garrett, in the Warner Bros. animated movie Quest for Camelot. He also co-wrote and sang background vocals with Steve Wariner and Vince Gill on Lila McCann's late 1998 single "You're Gone". Also in 1998, he was one of several artists (Garth Brooks, Olivia Newton John, Michael McDonald and Neal McCoy) to participate in a charity single entitled "One Heart at a Time". The proceeds from the single benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

[edit] How Lucky I Am and Greatest Hits

A fourth album for Asylum, How Lucky I Am, followed in 1999. White co-produced six songs with Derek George and Dann Huff also produced six songs. ("You're Still Beautiful to Me" and "God Gave Me You") were both Top 40 hits. Asylum closed its Nashville division soon afterward. The label's parent company, Warner Music Group, issued a Greatest Hits album in 2000 on the Warner Bros. Records label.^[1] This album included the number 56 single "How Long", White's final chart entry. White was the most commercially successful Country artist for Asylum's Nashville label and brought millions of teen followers to Country Music.

2000s[link]

Being so young and then thrust into stardom so fast ended up taking its toll on White. As White has stated, "My identity was formed by the music industry"; his career and success began defining who he was to himself.^[4] With his fourth album being less commercially successful, he started doubting himself and his talent which landed him in a deep depression, forcing him to take some time off until 2005, when he began work on another album. A second Christmas EP, My Christmas Project, followed in 2006.

After some soul-searching White regained his confidence by going back to his roots. A new album, Dustbowl Dreams, was released on September 28, 2009. White released a new single from that album, "The Little Things", in July 2009. It is his most personal record thus far...

White continues to focus linearly on his Artist career and still tours regularly. White is also very heavily involved in Producing and developing other artists. White does most of his work in his home studio in Brentwood, TN, "Shmowland," (Named after a parody map in his favorite Three Stooges short, "Malice in the Palace."

In 2011 Bryan was inducted into the Putnam City Foundation Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place in Oklahoma City at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. White's family, friends, and teachers attended along with 400 others. White received his award with tears.

Personal life[link]

White is married to actress, Erika Page White, of "One Life to Live", and together they have two sons, Justin and Jackson. They also sponsor a child in Ecuador named, Jhicela Michella Ichou Cacuanga.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Bryan White Site