Ralph White: home
"...the work of a player who has fully internalized old time and bluegrass and who is now reshaping them into a brand new, highly individualized form...this guy isn't naive; he's a master" (Justin Farrar, Strawberry Flats) READ THE WHOLE REVIEW HERE
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BRAND NEW RALPH WHITE SOLO ALBUM
*****THE MONGREL'S HOARD on Monofonus APRIL 13, 2010*****
"Ralph White’s solo music quickly reveals his passion for old folk, proto-blues and country music, the roots of American music. At the same time, the music, a layering of banjo, kalimba, button accordian, fiddle and vocals, shows a complete lack of interest in rehashing the past...on his latest record, The Mongrel’s Hoard, White expertly weaves his arrangements through originals and covers, layering over-dubbed sounds so naturally that it’s hard to believe these tracks aren’t live jams. Ralph’s drone-like banjo, reminiscent of Dock Bogg’s, his Balfa fiddle, button accordion and African kalimba create a meditative, almost psychedelic texture over his high-lonesome drawl...As a multi-instrumentalist he molds his many talents into a borderless, nostalgic sound that seems to actually grow out of the past"
| $15 LP + shipping (US or international) |
http://monofonuspress.com/
CD Release show at United States Arts Authority
Ralph White will be joined by Thor Harris drums and Walter Daniels various instruments .
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(OCTOBER 2009) new Ralph White collaboration project
Ralph White & the Hora Flora Sound System on Resipiscent (San Francisco, CA USA) improv/experimental collaboration with Raub Roy)
Ralph White in San Francisco October 2009 for details go to the shows page
RALPH WHITE SAN FRANCISCO SHOW FRI MAY 15th...click here for details
'NAVASOTA RIVER DEVIL SQUIRREL' 2008 Village Voice "Pazz & Jop" Critic's Choice Top 10 Albums of 2008
"Ralph White is a banjo player who has fully internalized old time and bluegrass and is now reshaping them into a brand new, highly individualized form. This album is avant garde, yes, but...this guy isn't naive; he's a master" Justin F. Farrar, Strawberry Flats READ THE WHOLE REVIEW HERE
RALPH WHITE in The WIRE UK:
"White was a member of well-loved punk bluegrass outfit Bad Livers but his solo work is possessed of a much more lonesome spark, exaggerating the implied drone at the heart of the music of Dock Boggs and The Stanley Brothers...White plays wooden six-string banjo, violin, accordion and kalimba and his voice has a high, eerie quality to it...extremely psychedelic"
RALPH WHITE in-store show at End of An Ear 2209 S. First Street Austin, TX "NAVASOTA RIVER DEVIL SQUIRREL" LP re-release and "ATAVISTIC WALTZE" album release FRIDAY OCT 24 at 6 PM
NAVASOTA RIVER DEVIL SQUIRREL"
" Vinyl LP Reissue by Mystra Records:
"Totally fantastic slice of genuine American primitive genius: White was a member of the punk/bluegrass outfit Bad Livers and this amazing solo album was originally released as a CD-R in 2007 and now gets a hip limited vinyl pressing...in an edition of 600 copies with crude, hand-glued cover art and insert. White’s most immediate formal model is obviously Dock Boggs, with that same kinda lonesome, hypnotic delivery, though the music is more ornate and drug-complex, combining beautiful matrices of live and overdubbed wooden 6 string banjo, violin, accordion and kalimba. The tracks combine traditional and originals, with recurring lines and mythic characters freely wandering from one to the other. White magnifies the drone that was always at the heart of the music of Dock Boggs and the early Stanley Brothers, situating it between source and spectrasound as beautifully as Matthew Valentine, Joshua, Dredd Foole or Willie Lane. His vocals have a particularly spell-binding quality to them, zoning out into smears of sound and picking their way around the words like birds on a corpse and the arrangements are gloriously detailed, webs of strange strings that vibrate in complex, primitively executed architectures. This is as fine a navigation of the original American mystery zone as I can recall, a great, oddball/loner slice of free folk that comes from deep within the tradition while still remaining convincingly other. Highly recommended." (Volcanic Tongue)
Summer Tour with Michael Hurley and Amy Annelle
CLICK HERE FOR TOUR DATES
Ralph White "Darkness, Darkness" live at Rancho Relaxo, Austin, TX show with Sir Richard Bishop. Filmed by Nari.
Ralph White excerpt of improv/"Little Birdie" on kalimba, live at Ranch Relaxo, Austin, TX 2008. Filmed by Nari.
Ralph White "Atavistic Waltz" at Flipnotics, 2006