Bryan White (CD - 1994)

Personnel: Bryan White (vocals); Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Billy Joe Walker, Jr., Larry Byrom (acoustic & electric guitars); Chris Leuzinger, Steve Gibson (electric guitar); Sonny Garrish, Paul Franklin, Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Hank Singer, Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Matt Rollings (piano, organ, keyboards); Randy McCormick (piano, keyboards); Kyle Lehning (Wurlitzer electric piano); Bob Wray, Glenn Worf (bass); Paul Leim, Lonnie Wilson, Milton Sledge (drums); Terry McMillan (percussion); Dennis Wilson, Michael Black, John Wesley Ryles, Derek George, Chris Young, Curtis Young, Bruce Dees, Lisa Silver, Cindy Walker (background vocals).

Producers: Billy Joe Walker, Jr., Kyle Lehning.

Includes liner notes by Bryan White.

Twenty years old when this self-titled debut was released, and looking like a cross between Michael J. Fox and Shaun Cassidy, Bryan White is a new kind of country hunk--the kind you expect to find gently nudging the swinging saloon doors open, sliding up to the bar, and ordering a soda-pop. He launches the album with a wide-eyed stab at traditional honky-tonk music, and the full-bodied gusto with which he sings it would probably serve as valid I.D. at any southern bar. But the lyric gives him away. Neither bragging about a conquest nor crying in his beer, "Eugene You Genius" finds him simply admiring an older gentleman's sexual bravado and asking how it's done.

The remainder of BRYAN WHITE abandons honky-tonk altogether and seeks a middle-ground between Don Henley's country-rock balladry and fellow Oklahoman Garth Brooks' yearning pop heart. The best song, "This Town," completely subverts tradition by describing White's small-town home as a place best left behind. This is young man's country music that isn't afraid to show its age.

Personnel: Bryan White (background vocals); Chris Leuzinger, Billy Joe Walker, Jr., Larry Byrom (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Biff Watson (acoustic guitar); Steve Gibson (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Paul Franklin, Sonny Garrish (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Stuart Duncan, Hank Singer (fiddle); Matt Rollings (piano, organ, keyboards); Randy McCormick (piano, keyboards); Kyle Lehning (electric piano); Lonnie Wilson, Paul Leim, Milton Sledge (drums); Terry McMillan (percussion); Cindy Richardson Walker, Curtis Young, Dennis Wilson , Derek George, John Wesley Ryles, Lisa Silver, Michael Black, Bruce Dees (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Kirt Odle; Jason Lehning; Bill Schnee.

Recording information: Nightingale Studio.

Photographer: Peter Nash. minimize