What longtime Austinite and former Bad Liver Ralph White puts on albums and onstage is so mind-boggling and vast, it forces those of us in the description business down a treacherous path" (Darcie Stevens, Austin Chronicle)


"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, button accordion and kalimba and his voice has a high, eerie quality to it...extremely psychedelic"  (David Keenan, The Wire UK)




 One of our foremost instrumentalists and a true hidden American treasure, Ralph White has taken the back roads in his inspired pursuit of the ancient roots of music.  The "folk/noise/avant-whatever genius" (Joe Gross, Austin Statesman) has made many strange travels as an itinerant musician and laborer.  Thus his intimate, nuanced musical language has slowly revealed itself, along a path that meanders from the apple orchards of British Columbia to the villages of Zimbabwe and Namibia, from the lonesome moors of Ireland to Australia, Brittany, Peru, Louisiana and beyond.  There is also the influence of White's hometown of Austin, Texas, a rich musical crossroads in and of itself. 

Along with Danny Barnes and Mark Rubin, White completed the original and definitive lineup of country/bluegrass mavericks (and recent Texas Music Hall of Fame inductees) The Bad Livers.  He now performs his singular blend of ancient rural folk music and original songwriting as a soloist.  Since touring extensively in North America and Europe, White has kept a prolific schedule of independent releases, "where borders are erased and music is the only language" (Insound).  Most recently, his "Navasota River Devil Squirrel", called "a fine navigation of the American mystery zone" (Volcanic Tongue) was reissued on vinyl LP by Mystra Records/Spirit of Orr.  And in late 2009 the Resipiscent label issued his improv collaboration with San Francisco sound artist Hora Flora Sound System.  New releases are scheduled for 2010, including a solo album with Austin indie Monofonus.  White has also self-released limited edition works and is called on for various recording projects and film scores & appearances. 

In addition to his solo work, White has recorded or performed with a diverse group of folk and avant-garde musicians: Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Jandek, Jack Rose, Eugene Chadbourne, Michelle Shocked, Sun City Girls' Sir Richard Bishop, Powell St. John and Michael Hurley.  He plays fiddle in traditional Cajun dance band The Gulf Coast Playboys, and, with folk singer Amy Annelle, performs in the roots country & folk duo Precious Blood.--D Walker, 2009


DISCOGRAPHY.                                                                            2016 Ralph White and Thor Harris, "tossing pebbles on the sleeping beast" (self sabotage)                                          2013 Ralph White, "waltze dont run".(feeding tube records) 

2010 Ralph White, "The Mongrel's Horde" (Monofonus)

2009 Precious Blood, "Top of the Holler"  (Ralph White & Amy Annelle duo)

2009 Ralph White & Hora Flora Sound System (Resipiscent)

2009 Ralph White, "A Kalimba Pillow" (End of the Tar)

2008 Ralph White, "The Atavistic Waltz" (End of the Tar)

2008 Ralph White, "Navasota River Devil Squirrel" LP Re-Release (Mystery Train/Spirit of Orr)

2006 Ralph White, "Navasota River Devil Squirrel"  (End of the Tar)

2004 "Down Along the Waterline" limited edition live recording (End of the Tar)

2002 "Trash Fish"  (Terminus Records)

Ralph White appears on various Bad Livers recordings, 1989—1996

 Ralph White has appeared as a guest on recordings by: Golden Boys, Jandek, Weird Weeds, Honky, Powell St. John, Rubble, Book of Shadows.

www.ralphewhite.com

Precious Blood

"Amy Annelle and Ralph White have for years practiced a kind of musical and literal nomadism that makes their unearthing of spooky old folk tunes come out effortlessly heavy...the songs bleed out of their breath like fire"~~Elliott Johnson, Arthur Magazine


Austin, Texas' new duo Precious Blood is indeed "steeped in folk music's strange past" (Adam Schragin, Austinist). Singer-guitarist Annelle and multi-instrumentalist White met while on tour with their original music projects. "True kindred spirits who long for the same pastoral past" (Austin Powell, Austin Chronicle), they have an abiding love for the far-flung corners of old folk and country music, and started Precious Blood as a side project to share these songs with a wider audience. In the short time since forming the band, White and Annelle have debuted Precious Blood in New York City and New Orleans, as well as their hometown of Austin.

Precious Blood throw themselves into the tunes of rowdy public houses, haunted bayous and lonesome prairies with atavistic abandon. They sidestep the formalities of folk purists, drawing instead on their inner visions and considerable experience with the repertoires of Cajun, Irish, Mexican and psychedelic folk music.

Precious Blood have played with indie comic Neil Hamburger and experimental folk trio Weird Weeds, and had shows in an extinct volcano and on a plywood barge floating down the Colorado River. Their debut album, "Top of the Holler", will be released in early 2009, and both Annelle and White are busy recording new albums of solo original music. White has performed or recorded with The Bad Livers, Jandek, Sir Richard Bishop, Michelle Shocked, Eugene Chadbourne and The Golden Boys; Annelle with Jandek, Michael Hurley, Roy Harper, Jolie Holland and Smog. White plays fiddle with traditional Cajun dance band The Gulf Coast Playboys, of which Annelle is an occasional member.