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Lari White
Country Music Dreams Come True
(Originally published in Two-Step, May 1994)
By Bob Andelman
When Lari White says she's had a pretty great year, she's
not kidding.
The Dunedin High School and University of Miami graduate's
first album, Lead Me Not (RCA), released in 1993, won
rave reviews, respectable sales and an Academy of County Music
nomination for best new female vocalist.
Not only that, but the 28-year-old singer/songwriter married
singer/songwriter Chuck Cannon on April 23. The wedding was at
Christ Church in Nashville, where White wore her mother's wedding
dress. "She made it when she got married," White says,
"and it fits like she made it for me."
But wait! There's more: Cannon was nominated for an
ACM award as well, song of the year, for writing "I Love
the Way You Love Me."
And White's featured as a recurring character in a CBS-TV
pilot for the fall, XXXs & OOOs, in which she plays
a photographer.
Finally - for now - her new album, Wishes, hits stores
on June 15. Lari White recently spoke to Two-Step about
all the exciting changes in her fast-paced life.
TWO-STEP: You were in high school the last time we spoke
- almost a decade ago - for the St. Petersburg Times.
So what's new?
LARI WHITE: (Laughing.) Do you remember
what year that was? I did Girls State and I did Junior Achievement,
I did the Junior Miss Pageant.
Was there an oldies group you were involved with?
Yes! Yes! That is sooo funny. Flashback, it
was called. That is hilarious. A couple of summers when I came
home from college. They would play the VFW Halls and stuff like
that in Pinellas County. Thank you for thinking of them! I haven't
seen any of them in a long time and I really enjoyed working
with them. That was a blast.
It just goes to show how long I've been doing this, just plugging
away, anything I could do that kept me in the music business
just as long as I can remember.
What was the first thing you did professionally? The first
job you got paid for?
I kind of indirectly got paid for gigs as early as 4 years
old because we sang for our supper at the community center with
my Mom and Dad and my little brother and sister as the White
Family Singers. We started getting little gigs here and there.
I put together my first band when I was a teen.
What was the band called?
White Sound. We thought about calling it White Noise, but
that was probably not a good name.
Did you get out to play much while you were at the University
of Miami?
I sure did. I had an academic scholarship for tuition, but
to pay rent and feed myself, I did all different kinds of music
jobs. I sang studio sessions, background vocals, for different
records that were made in Miami and a lot of jingles. I sang
with a big band orchestra that did weddings and big parties at
hotels on the beach.
Not strictly a country experience?
Unfortunately, there just wasn't a whole lot of country music
down in Miami. I grabbed those gigs when I could but didn't have
a whole lot of choice.
What background singing did you do, specifically?
I sang background on a record for Julio Iglesias. I sang backgrounds
for Robin Gibbs of the BeeGees. He did a solo album called Secret
Agent and I sang on that.
Sounds like good experience leading for a recording career?
Oh, yes. All stepping stones, kind of like on the job training.
Anything in particular you picked up while doing that kind
of work?
Just a level of comfort in the studio, I think. A lot of people,
when they get a record deal, have sung live and had bands and
that kind of experience but maybe have not been in the studio,
which is a very different experience. It takes them a little
while to get used to it. But I had been doing it for 4-5 years
by the time I got my record deal.
Did you learn a lot of the technical stuff in college?
Yes. I started out as a vocal major but I was doing so much
work singing outside school that I learned more working than
in the classroom. So I switched degrees to music engineering
- studio equipment, acoustics, studio design and electronics
- so I could eventually produce records. And I wanted to cut
my own demos.
Most seniors on college campuses get recruited by law firms
and big corporations - but not music students. When you graduated
with a degree in music engineering and production, what were
you thinking that you would do?
Well, you panic for a little while. I went directly to Nashville
in 1988 because I knew that is where I belonged. That is where
I needed to be. I had started to seriously write songs and think
of writing as an integral part of performing.
Was there something waiting for you there, a job perhaps?
Oh, my gosh, no! I knew one person, a friend of our family
who worked for the phone company. Otherwise, I didn't know a
soul. I had some phone numbers from music industry friends in
Miami of some people to look up, but I really came with nothing
but big dreams and a lot of drive and determination.
Did being from a small town help?
It's that common ground, one of the common threads that runs
through country music. It's where most of the underlying themes
of the music comes from: families working hard, small town ethics,
everyone knowing each other.
Was there one person you came in contact with who set things
in motion for you?
It was a combination of people. Nashville, as a music community,
is remarkably supportive compared to other music cities like
Los Angeles and New York. It was amazing to me how open people
were, just letting me talk to them about the business and their
experiences and getting advice.
Over several years - about 3-1/2 years - getting my demo tapes
around, meeting other writers, co-writing and getting a publishing
deal, you slowly become part of the community..
What were you doing to support yourself in the meantime?
I had luckily, fortunately, won a talent show that
gave me some cash as part of the prize. So where normally I would
have been waiting tables or selling clothes or something like
that to make ends meet, I was able to do nothing but write and
sing and live on the prize money for a while.
It's not a big stretch of the imagination to see that down
the line you could wind up recording and producing.
I hope so. I co-produced my first album with Rodney (Crowell).
I knew I wanted to produce, but I didn't think I was going to
get to do it on my first album. Rodney was very generous. He
saw I had done a lot of homework and I had a lot to say about
how I wanted it to sound and be done.
Have you gotten the sense it's kind of unusual around Nashville
to come in on your first record and be involved in producing?
Yes, it really is.
When did you settle on country music?
Country is what my family sang. Our family group was country
and gospel and anything with good harmony in it because everybody
sang. Of course, I went through rebellious teen years and got
into rock 'n' roll at 15; when I went to college, I got turned
on to jazz and big band music, so I have those influences.
But when I started writing, I wrote country songs. When you
write you dip into the deepest parts of yourself and country
is what came out.
You apparently learned the value of writing your own songs
as opposed to singing someone else's songs
Yes, although I think it was much less a financial or economic
or intellectual decision as it was that I had always sort of
dabbled in writing. When it came time to really get out into
the world and build the career I found that I just sang (my own
songs) better. I connected with the songs better and I had something
to say. Lots of people have something to say but each person
says it in their own unique way and, for me, it was just a natural
part of performing. Funny - now, I can't imagine not writing.
When you started writing songs more seriously did you look
and listen to songs in a different way?
Oh, yes.
So you became more aware of structure and phrasing than
you had when you were simply singing someone else's songs?
Well, living in Nashville is almost like going to graduate
school for writers. Everyone writes and there are such incredible
writers here. You can go out every night of the week and hear
the best writers in the world perform their own songs. When you
see a writer with just a guitar up on a stage, singing their
song the way it was conceived, it is the most pure, raw form.
You really pay attention and focus on the structure and the lyrics
and the melody.
A few years down the line, which do you think would give
you more pride: to be known as a writer, a performer, or a producer?
I can't separate them. I feel like the legacy of a song has
the potential to live longer than the legacy of a singer. Incredible
singers certainly influence generations beyond their own life,
but songs have a way of resurfacing even a hundred years later
and touching people if they are classic and universal. As a writer,
I try to write classic songs, but as a singer, I want to outlive
myself.
Your new husband, Chick Cannon, is also a songwriter and,
in fact, wrote songs on both of your albums. How did you meet?
We met about 3-1/2 years ago in Nashville at a writers' night.
Were you introduced? How did you find each other?
We saw each other play. I was actually dating someone else
at the time. I had seen him play and I knew that he was an incredible
writer and a great performer.
As a writer, I want to hear you were attracted to his mind.
It's a cliché, but I was really ready to be single
for a while. I wasn't really looking for anyone in my life but
I went to see Chuck in the round one night and was really impressed
by his depth. You can tell a lot about a person by the songs
they write because they put their souls out on the table. Your
deepest fears and beliefs come to light in your songs and a lot
of his songs really showed great depth and great thoughtfulness
and intelligence - and yes (she laughs), I was very attracted
by that.
How quickly did things take off?
We started dating maybe four months after we met.
When were you engaged?
Last April (1993).
Long engagement.
Its been nice.
Before you were engaged, the two of you co-wrote some songs.
Have you and Chuck written songs for anyone else?
No, not yet. We have had them pitched to other artists but
haven't had any cuts yet.
Will you change your name now that you're married?
Not my professional name. But I want my kids to have a real
strong sense of family and not wonder why mom's name is different
than mine.
That answers the question: Do you want children?
Yes.
Any time soon?
No. I've got some time.
Was this the most exciting year of your life?
Every year has been more exciting than the last. I don't know
what I'm going to do by the time I'm 50. I'll probably just spontaneously
combust.
Highlights?
Last year's Country Radio Seminar Show was a real highlight.
That was one of the first performances with my band and it was
to all the radio programmers in America. I got two standing ovations
and a wonderful response from them. It was a great welcome to
country music.
Getting engaged - and most of my time out on the road - was
really great. I really enjoy the road and performing live, so
all of my touring last year was great.
Any other moments that stand out, maybe as the record charted?
The ACM award nomination was the highest honor I have been
paid. To be nominated for best new female vocalist is a really
wonderful thing and having not had a big hit, a top ten hit,
it was especially good for me. It really lets me know that the
industry believes in me and supports me.
end
©2000,
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express written permission of the author.
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