Matthew E. White

Drawing from a deep well of regional influences like <a href="spotify:artist:3HQyFCFFfJO3KKBlUfZsyW">Randy Newman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:63aP18bg2ABSOqSNQcAMNy">Allen Toussaint</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1u8YzEYh6gvvFog95WtAao">Alan Lomax</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stax%22">Stax</a>-era R&B. The founder of the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Spacebomb%22">Spacebomb</a> label and management group, White has collaborated with like-minded artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:0o1wK6uAmkrixovsE80lMR">Megafaun</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2wJ4vsxWd7df7dRU4KcoDe">Sharon Van Etten</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3hyGGjxu73JuzBa757H6R5">the Mountain Goats</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:55Wpgt1Y1RISpita5RLxGm">Ken Vandermark</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:13rHmjtJmlIJ2aDyJc7CLV">Justin Vernon</a>, as well as toured and recorded as the leader of avant-garde jazz band <a href="spotify:artist:1j54Vq03aeLb4TLWBNNzt4">Fight the Big Bull</a>. 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 <a href="spotify:artist:3qM2kgxt87sXgP2ytxZZv2">Flo Morrissey</a> (2017's Gentlewoman, Ruby Man) and <a href="spotify:artist:7dgLSJ4HaXx0dy5V2BMQe5">Lonnie Holley</a> (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 <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Curtis Mayfield</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7HGNYPmbDrMkylWqeFCOIQ">Caetano Veloso</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4vpDg7Y7fU982Ds30zawDA">the Band</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4Q82S0VzF8qlCb4PnSDurj">Brian Wilson</a>. 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Spacebomb%22">Spacebomb</a> 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Spacebomb%22">Spacebomb</a> -- including the eponymous 2015 debut by singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:0EmUT6i9rTu9ZHy1Tl1iuX">Natalie Prass</a> -- and then released his second solo album, Fresh Blood, in March of 2015. In 2017, White paired up with <a href="spotify:artist:3qM2kgxt87sXgP2ytxZZv2">Flo Morrissey</a> 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Spacebomb%22">Spacebomb</a> artists like <a href="spotify:artist:7grGoDIxuUQFN3OwCuPXmN">Andy Jenkins</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6ZoRg8NnEtVmtUhgCTSCrn">Nadia Reid</a>. Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection, a collaboration with found-object sculptor and improvisational songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:7dgLSJ4HaXx0dy5V2BMQe5">Lonnie Holley</a>, was released in 2021. Later that year White released his third solo long-player, K Bay. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi