Biography

Drawing from a deep well of regional influences like Randy Newman, Allen Toussaint, and Alan Lomax, Richmond, Virginia-based singer/songwriter/arranger Matthew E. White specializes in a meticulously crafted blend of reggae-infused folk-gospel, Tropicalia, swirling indie pop, and Stax-era R&B. The founder of the Spacebomb label and management group, White has collaborated with like-minded artists such as Megafaun, Sharon Van Etten, the Mountain Goats, Ken Vandermark, and Justin Vernon, as well as toured and recorded as the leader of avant-garde jazz band Fight the Big Bull. He made his solo debut with the innovative Big Inner in 2012 and saw U.K. chart success with 2015's Fresh Blood. He issued his third solo effort, the reliably eclectic K Bay, in 2021, and has released full-lengths with Flo Morrissey (2017's Gentlewoman, Ruby Man) and Lonnie Holley (2021's Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection). Matthew E. White was raised in an evangelical household by missionary parents (he spent four years in the Philippines) and nourished on the sounds of Curtis Mayfield, Caetano Veloso, the Band, and Brian Wilson. He played in the Richmond-based folk-pop group the Great White Jenkins, and additionally founded the avant-jazz ensemble Fight the Big Bull during the 2000s. The soulful and colorful Big Inner, his debut album for his own Spacebomb label, was released in 2012. Big Inner gained a cult following, showing up on several year-end critics' lists and peaking at number 19 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. White continued to work on various projects for Spacebomb -- including the eponymous 2015 debut by singer/songwriter Natalie Prass -- and then released his second solo album, Fresh Blood, in March of 2015. In 2017, White paired up with Flo Morrissey for Gentlewoman, Ruby Man, a collection of covers. A woozy single called "No Future in Our Frontman" appeared in 2018, and White produced albums by Spacebomb artists like Andy Jenkins and Nadia Reid. Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection, a collaboration with found-object sculptor and improvisational songwriter Lonnie Holley, was released in 2021. Later that year White released his third solo long-player, K Bay. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi