For this year’s Folk Alliance International and SXSW conferences, BGS collaborated with Yamaha Guitars to film performances from some of the artists we are most excited about in 2021. Over the past few weeks, we have been publicly releasing these exclusive videos.
Bella White’s music is a bridge between time and space: transporting traditional bluegrass music to the modern era and bringing the influence of her native Calgary through Boston and finally to her new home in Nashville. After independently releasing her first album, Just Like Leaving, White caught the attention of and signed to Rounder Records, who will be re-releasing the album later this year.
White begins her performance with “Gutted,” the first track off of Just Like Leaving. In it, she explores an all too familiar desire to run away from one’s present and one’s problems, ultimately coming to the conclusion that,“I’d be a fool to think my burdens are something I don’t carry.” White follows “Gutted” with “Broke (When I Realized),” an introspective look at her parents’ relationship and subsequent divorce. As she mournfully sings, “The weight of the many tears she shed nearly woke me from my bad dream/ and I broke when I realized I was yet to fall asleep,” White reveals her own struggle of coming to terms with the split when she was a child.
To close, White gifts us with “The Way I Oughta Go,” an unreleased track written during the pandemic. White ends the song repeating, “Dreaming never met me in Alberta/ So I packed my things, Tennessee I did go,” referencing her own journey to Nashville to chase her dream of becoming a musician. If “The Way I Oughta Go” is any indication of what is to come, we cannot wait to see what Bella White does next.
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com.
