Emily Jane White is an American singer and songwriter from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

who has released six solo albums and toured internationally.

Early life

White was raised in

Fort Bragg, California Fort Bragg, officially the City of Fort Bragg, is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is west of Willits, at an elevation of . Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census. Fort ...

.
White's father worked as a Merchant Marine out of the

Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...

, and her mother was a special education teacher for the

Mendocino Unified School District Mendocino Unified School District is a public school district in Mendocino County, California, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primaril ...

. White began to play music at age 5, but didn't enjoy the linear approach to piano lessons and preferred improvisation and

playing by ear Playing or learning by ear is the ability of a performing musician to reproduce a piece of music they have heard, without having seen it notated in any form of sheet music. It is considered to be a desirable skill among musical performers, especi ...

. At the age of 12 her father taught her chords on the guitar. At the age of 16 she wrote her first songs.

Education

In 2003, White graduated with a degree in American Studies from UC–Santa Cruz. White's first musical explorations came as a member of punk and metal bands in college. She later branched off with her own group called Diamond Star Halos.

Career

After college and spending time in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, France, White moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

to perform. On November 2, 2007, White released her first album, ''

Dark Undercoat ''Dark Undercoat'' is the debut album by Emily Jane White released in 2007 on label Double Negative Records in the U.S. and by Talitres records in France. Promotion Cam Archer directed the music videos for "Wild Tigers I Have Known" (2006), ...

'', through Double Negative Records.Emily Jane White
at Double Negative Records It was released on

Talitres Talitres, formerly known as Talitres Records, is a French independent record label based in Bordeaux, founded in 2000 and specializing in indie pop and folk music. It began as a way to release music from indie rock bands that were not distribute ...

in Europe and as a vinyl LP in 2008 by Saint Rose Records. It included the song "Wild Tigers I Have Known", the title track of the

Cam Archer Cam Archer (born 1981) is an American independent filmmaker, photographer and sound designer, currently residing in Santa Cruz, California. ''Cinemad'' Career Archer's first success was with his 2003 student produced short film, ''bobbycrush'', a ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

of the same name. Archer would later direct a number of videos for the album. She later described the album as "really basic, it sounds like demos". For live performances, White was supported by Jen Grady and Carey Lamprecht on strings. White's second album, entitled ''

Victorian America ''Victorian America'' is the second album by Emily Jane White released on October 9, 2009, in France by Talitres Records and on April 27, 2010, in the U.S. by Milan Records. Critical reception Allmusic gave a positive review, commenting that "W ...

'', was released in October 2009 in Europe on

, and on April 27, 2010, in the U.S. by

Milan Records Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan boasts an extensive electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases ...

. It was recorded in San Francisco and Oakland. White had written a number of songs that she worked on with her band for "basically a year and a half before we went and recorded". Compared to her debut, she described it as "more of an ambitious record". The song "Liza" appeared on digital streaming platforms prior to the US release. White's third album is entitled ''Ode to Sentience''. The first single, "Requiem Waltz", first appeared on ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

''. White appears on the song "Seeds" on

Lonely Drifter Karen Lonely Drifter Karen are a multi-national pop band, based in Brussels, Belgium. The band consists of Austrian singer Tanja Frinta, keyboarder and producer Marc Melià Sobrevias from Spain and the two Frenchmen Maxime Malon on drums and Clément ...

's 2010 album ''Fall of Spring''. In December 2013, White released ''Blood/Lines'' that included a contribution by

Marissa Nadler Marissa Nadler (born April 5, 1981) is an American musician and fine artist. Active since 2000, she is currently signed to Sacred Bones Records and Bella Union, and released her ninth full-length studio album, ''The Path of the Clouds'', in Oc ...

. It was described as "a new stylistic development in her repertoire" and having a "neo-gothic feel". In June 2016 the release of the new album was confirmed and preceded by the single "Frozen Garden". In July 2016, White released her fifth album ''They Moved in Shadow All Together'' that was described as "bringing her concern for race and gender equality to the fore of her poetic folk-pop". The album was recorded over a two-year period at the Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco. ''Immanent Fire'', White's sixth album, was released in November 2019 after being written over a period of two years. Major lyrical themes on the record include environmental collapse, capitalism and patriarchy. White co-produced the album with Anton Patzner, who also engineered and provided arrangements.

Style

White explained her interest in "the shadow side of life" by stating that "you can unveil and sort of reveal…subtleties and nuances and undercurrents of things that are existing but no one wants to talk about". The song "The Black Dove" was inspired by the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement. White noted that "As a white person, there are so many misconceptions to what racism is, but the fact that you can turn a blind eye to issues of racial brutality is a symptom of being white". Her literary inspirations are often cited to be

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

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3 live videos
a
Intimepop.comSecond session live from intimepop.com
a
Intimepop.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Emily Jane American folk singers University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Living people Singer-songwriters from California American women singer-songwriters American alternative rock musicians American women rock singers Alternative rock singers People from Fort Bragg, California Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers