Drake White & William Clark Green: The Blow Up Your TV Tour

With a rustic, southern sound, Drake White embraces the new multifaceted nature of modern Country music.  Originally from Hokes Bluff, AL, White’s been honing his sound on the road for years with his own band, The Big Fire. Made up of five like-minded friends, White says his chemistry with The Big Fire is essential to the diversity and high energy of his sound. The Big Fire band came together thoughtfully over 5 years with White making sure each player fit in his vision of a cohesive group of guys who collaborate with him on the road and in the studio and as White puts it “we lean on each other’s ideas, talents and experiences.

His music is a mix of electric and acoustic guitar, bass & drums laying a thick groove, mandolin and fiddle swirling through the air and organ hovering above it all like the high harmony of a gospel choir. White’s sound is both familiar and modern, building on the successful band model laid down by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Allman Brothers Band and modern Country trailblazers like Eric Church and Zac Brown Band.

Named one of Billboard Magazine’s 10 Hot Country Artists to Watch in 2015 and dubbed “an electric performer with a gospel howl” by Rolling Stone Country, White made Rolling Stone’s list of the 37 Best Things We Saw at CMA Fest 2014.

A singer and songwriter whose slice-of-life tunes and rough, heartfelt delivery earned him a following in the Southwest, William Clark Green was born in Flint, Texas on May 19, 1986. When Green was 12, his family moved to College Station, Texas, and he began taking guitar lessons at church. Green's tastes then leaned to hard rock, but when his father played him Willis Alan Ramsey's classic 1972 debut album, the youngster became interested in the Texas singer/songwriter tradition. Green immersed himself in the work of Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Pat Green, and began writing songs of his own. He eventually enrolled in college after jobs as a ranch hand and working in a feedlot didn't work out for him. But he was more interested in music than academics, and it took him six years to complete his Agriculture Economics degree at Texas Tech. Green spent nearly as much time playing open mikes and acoustic gigs as he did studying, and by 2008 he was playing a weekly residency at the Blue Light in Lubbock. That same year, he released his debut album, Dangerous Man. The album Misunderstood followed in 2010, but it was 2013's Rose Queen that became Green's breakthrough. The album was a solid success in Texas, where the songs "She Likes the Beatles" and "It's About Time" earned significant airplay. The album eventually peaked at 34 on the U.S. Country Albums chart as Green's reputation grew beyond his home state. And in 2015, Green dropped his fourth album, Ringling Road. "Sympathy," "Sticks and Stones," and the title tune were all radio hits in Texas, and the album sold even better than Rose Queen, climbing to 18 on the U.S. Country Albums chart and going all the way to number one on the Heatseekers chart, a listing for new artists on the rise. Following the 2016 concert set Live at Gruene Hall, Green returned in 2018 with Hebert Island. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi