LOCAL MUSICIANS
Ralph White, a musician with a vast history of making music and touring, will be playing with Attic Ted, the local band that deems itself “weirdo cabaret post theatrical synth punk” with masks, at Tantra on Friday, June 20. White goes on at 8 p.m. and Attic Ted at 9 p.m. They will have another show at the Farmer’s Market on the square the next day from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
White describes his music as “original music based on traditional music,” which he said is “any kind of music that is music of the people.”
“It really can mean anything, in a way, but I mean any kind of music that its sole purpose isn’t to make money,” White said. “It’s all just an experiment because I don’t copy [other music].”
White is 73 years-old and has been playing music since he was a kid. When he was young, he heard Lightnin’ Hopkins and felt inspired by Blues music, and when he first heard traditional fiddle music, he knew he wanted to learn how to play that as well. He took lessons from some people who had large, diverse record collections and realized there was a world of music to explore. He played in a band that played French Traditional Music then the Bad Livers, which played Bluegrass. Both bands were from Austin.
“We got real famous and toured with the Butthole Surfers and all that. But when the big Bluegrass labels began to be interested in it, I and my bandmates realized that it wasn’t my style. I don’t really like bluegrass,” he said. “I also played in a Cajun band in Austin called the Gulf Coast Playboys for about seven years just playing traditional Cajun music, which I can play at any time of the day; that’s one kind of music that is totally familiar to me.”
White has recorded 25 solo records with small labels since 1999 and is looking forward to recording some new music, which he just recently began doing again.
White bought a house in the 80s in Austin and decided to move, in 2019, to the Northeast part of the country, an area where he had a large following. During his travel up the country, the pandemic hit, while he was in Arizona, and he decided to stay. It’s been a while since he played in Texas, but he’ll be playing in Austin, Elgin, Smithville and other places in West Texas in addition to his shows in San Marcos. “I haven’t played there [San Marcos] in a long time,” White said. “I used to play with Scott Biram.”
Music by Ralph White can be found on all major streaming platforms.
