Drake White - Low Country High Road Tour
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Drake White
Country-Soul troubadour Drake White creates the kind of fiercely life-affirming music that could only come from confronting real hardship and heartbreak. On his new album Low Country High Road, the Alabama-bred artist speaks an unabashed truth about the pivotal moments that have radically altered his world, including a near-death experience and the birth of his son Hawk after he and his wife battled infertility for seven years. In a testament to the one-of-a-kind character of his songwriting, White matches that unflinching honesty with the wildly joyful energy he’s brought to the stage for more than a decade—an element that’s found the consummate road warrior traveling the globe and steadily amassing a passionate fanbase. Steeped in a gritty authenticity that’s deeply tied to his upbringing in the Appalachian foothills, the result is the most powerful work yet from a truly essential songwriter and undeniable force of nature.
“This album taught me that I’ve lived through all these things for a reason,” says White. “I’ve been through some hard times, and I’ve figured how to get through all the bad stuff that life can throw at you without ever giving up. I’ve realized that’s my superpower, and now I’m using my music to show other people that if I can make it, they can make it too.”
The latest turn in a career that includes a slew of top 40 hits and a British CMA Award for International Song of the Year, Low Country High Road marks White’s third full-length and first LP since The Optimystic—a 2022 release created after a brain condition called arteriovenous malformation triggered the hemorrhagic stroke that caused him to collapse onstage in 2019. Co-produced by White and Jonathan Singleton (Luke Combs, Chase Rice), the album came to life at The Lodge Studio in Mississippi, where White and his fellow musicians honed in on capturing the unbridled vitality his band’s shown in headlining multiple tours and sharing bills with Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Zac Brown Band, and more. As he points out, the experience of escaping Nashville for the Mississippi backcountry played a crucial part in forging Low Country High Road’s irresistibly freewheeling sound. “Going down to Mississippi was a cry to get back to my roots, the music that’s deep in the marrow of my bones,” says White. “There’s a spirit there that feels closer to New Orleans or Muscle Shoals or Memphis, and we took our time to marinate in that and come up with that Appalachian Soul-Funk gumbo that’s got some real grittiness to it.”
With an A-list lineup of co-writers including Ross Copperman (Luke Bryan, Keith Urban) and Randy Montana (Parker McCollum, Randy Rogers Band), Low Country High Road brings White’s colorful musicality and larger-than-life charisma to tracks like “10 Lbs of S#!T”: a fast-stomping and funloving anthem that packs a bit of social commentary into its rapid-fire poetry. “I’m unapologetic about the fact that I like to grab the bull by the horns and get shit done, but I also recognize that there’s a downside to that need to constantly be productive,” says White. “I’ve been all around the world and seen the way other people live, and I think Americans would do well to slow down a bit—but at the same time I don’t want to slow down.” Meanwhile, on “The Last Time,” Low Country High Road turns bittersweet as White shares a quietly moving meditation on mortality, threading his lyrics with beautifully detailed reminiscence of his early years. “One thing a near-death experience helped me understand is that you never know when a conversation with someone might be the last,” he says. “There’s so much we can’t control in this world, but we can do our best to enjoy all the little things in life and never take anyone we love for granted.”
An album immensely informed by White’s journey as a father, Low Country High Road achieves a tender intensity on “Life, Love and War” and its gently rendered words of guidance to his young son (born in January 2023). “When I was getting through the stroke and dealing with our infertility troubles and my wife being sick, I called on Jesus,” recalls White, whose wife Alex was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder in late 2020. “After Hawk was born I started thinking about how to equip him with the arrows in his quiver to get him through life, love, and war, and I knew I needed to teach him to call on a higher power whenever he’s in need of help.”
In a perfect bookend to the album’s soul-soothing title track, Low Country High Road closes out on “Stompin Ground”—an exhilarating Country-Rock epic about the glory of hometown pride. “I was raised in a one-stoplight utopia of town, and I wanted to paint a picture of that Huckleberry Finn-like freedom I felt as a child,” says White, who hails from Hokes Bluff. “Alabama’s a complicated place with a lot of oppression in its past, but it’s also got a rich musical history and the beauty of places like Orange Beach and the Appalachian foothills. ‘Stompin Ground’ is about being proud of where you’re from, and it’s my way of showing the world what Alabama really is: faith, hope, love, catching good fish and knowing how to make a damn good tomato sandwich.”
For the centerpiece to Low Country High Road, White selected a straight-from-the-heart song that serves as a mission statement and spiritual touchstone. With its lush Gospel harmonies and luminous organ melodies, the emotionally raw but exultant “Faith” also sheds light on White’s ability to persevere even in the most trying circumstances. “Jonathan and I were writing together, and my former label called to tell me they were dropping me,” says White in reflecting on the song’s origins. “He asked if I wanted to keep going and I told him, ‘Hell, yeah,’ and then those first lines came to me: ‘I’ve been praying like a fool /For my ship to come in/I’ve been wishing on them stars/I’ve been hoping on the wind.’ I’ve had this dream for so long now, and ‘Faith’ is a reminder to keep pushing and trust in God, because that’s what’s going to keep me on the right path.”
A powerhouse vocalist who got his start singing in the church choir, White first set out on the path toward Country stardom while attending Auburn University, where he took up guitar and started writing songs. Soon after moving to Nashville post-graduation, he began gigging around town and eventually quit his construction job to focus on music full-time. Within several years he released his debut single “Simple Life” and made his full-length debut with 2016’s Spark, instantly earning raves for his rowdy brand of Country and electrifying live show. Despite facing plenty of upheaval over the years, his musical passion and creative vision have only gotten stronger since he first stepped onto the scene—a factor that found him taking a direct role in the visual component of Low Country High Road. “Whenever I’m coming up with a melody or a lyric, I automatically start seeing images and video ideas in my head,” he explains. “With this album, the videos all fit together and feed off each other and tell a bigger story. It feels good to get hands-on with anything that’s got my name on it, and of course it helps to have an incredible team to bring all those ideas to life.”
All throughout Low Country High Road, White delivers his songs with the absolute conviction of an artist who needs to create to survive. “After the stroke, music was the medicine that made my heart keep moving when my brain kept telling me to quit,” he notes. And by doubling down on his devotion to music’s redemptive power, White ended up unlocking a whole new level of courage in his songwriting. “When I think of my favorite records, whether it’s Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin or Bob Seger, I see people who experienced heartache and then wrote about it with authority,” he says. “This record helped me to get to that same kind of vulnerability—I’m just writing authentically about what’s in my heart and head, and I’m completely unafraid to show who I am.
