Where are they now? - Alan White
This page last updated: 3 Nov 2011
On this page: White - The White Sox - Solo work - Charity work
On other pages: Yes news
Alan White's official site: Homepage; News; MySpace page; Facebook page
In a Jun
2009 interview, White said, "As far as energy levels and all
that goes, I'm ready to go another 10 or 15 years." He remains a
member of Yes—see main page.
White official website; Facebook page
After a period of inactivity, White returned with a live show in
Sep 2010 and a new line-up. Alan (drums, percussion, backing
vocals), Karl Haug (guitars, backing vocals) and Steve Boyce (ex-MerKaBa, Two Sheds Jackson; bass, guitar,
backing vocals) from before are now joined by two musicians from
Yes tribute band Parallels
(MySpace page), who have
previously worked with Alan: vocalist Robyn Dawn (works
with the White Sox All-Star Band, Black
Sabbath tribute band Supernauty, ex-Parallels,
worked with Ajalon)
and keyboardist Jonathan
Sindelman (Parallels, worked with Ajalon, Neal Morse).
The new line-up's debut was a 90-minute set closing the Newcastle Days 2010
festival, WA in Sep; set: "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Beyond
the Sea of Lies", "Give Up Giving Up", "Owner of a Lonely Heart",
"Mighty Love", "Crazy Believer", "Changes", "Living in the Sun",
"Waterhole", "I Got News", "Instant Karma", "New Day", "Imagine",
"Roundabout". In a Sep 2010
interview, Boyce described the new line-up as "get[ting]
used to playing together and from there we can build" in terms of
writing new material. Alan said they were "in the process of
thinking about doing" new material. They've played a number of
benefit shows in 2010/1, including appearing at Synergia Northwest 2011
in May in Seattle, WA, raising funds for education. Joined by
long-time collaborator, percussionist Reek Havok, their set
included "Ritual". Alan previously
co-headlined the Synergia Northwest
2010 Benefit at which the Synergia Northwest Orchestra
accompanied Alan White for a performance of "In the Presence of"
and an abridged version of "Ritual"; line-up: Alan White, Steve
Boyce, Karl Haug and Jonathan Sindelman (all White),
Tracy Bonham (vocals) and a second drummer. White played a baby
grand piano for the majority of "In the Presence of", before
switching to drums. For "Ritual", they were joined by violinist
Geoffrey Castle (worked with Alan White) and the
Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder.
In an interview
published early Nov 2011, White said:
While
I had a month off [from Yes], or so, we got into writing some
new stuff. We’re working on a lot of new material right now.
It’s refreshing. You feel like you are getting a bunch of
music out there. Of course, Yes is everybody’s main project.
Even with all the other things we do, Yes is the first thing
we concentrate on.
In late 2009, Boyce told one fan that he and Alan had been
working on material. In a Jan 2009 interview
for Notes from the Edge, Alan said, "I've been
talking to Steve Boyce [...] and I've been trying to kind of like
reconstruct that as a side project kind of thing, so we're still
working on that right now. But I can see something coming about
right now, so we'll see what happens." A follow-up to the band's
debut album was being planned. In a Jul 2005 interview for Notes from the Edge, Alan
said, "We've got plenty of material, that's for sure. There is a
lot of material that's still hanging around." In his blog, Boyce
previously implied new recording in late 2006 and the band, then
with a line-up of White/Boyce/Haug/Kevin Currie/Richard "Wayo"
Hogan and possibly Phil Davis, recorded a piece called "To Kill
the Pain" in Aug 2006, but for release under some other moniker
than White.
Levin Torn White
Out is a new collaborative, instrumental, 14-track album by a trio
of David Torn (worked
with Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, John
Legend; guitar, textural events), Tony Levin (ex-ABWH/Yes,
ex-King Crimson, ex-Peter Gabriel; bass, Stick) and Alan
White (drums, percussion). (Levin previously played with Torn with
Bill Bruford.) See details on main page.
After two private, corporate gigs in late 2007, their first
public appearance was in May 2008 in Seattle, WA. The band
consisted of White, Edney, Moses, Bodal and Soto. They headlined For Rock's Sake.
The band, in a rather different incarnation, played next at the visitRaleigh.com
Rock Hall Benefit
festival (Sep 2008), with a line-up including White, Bodal,
Castle, Bazilian, Hansen, Williams, Bowes and Mark Farner (ex-Grand
Funk Railroad; vocals). The band returned to Cary for
the second annual
benefit for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum in May
2010. They also did a warm-up gig in Apr that year in Seattle, WA.
They next played the
Reykjavik Cultural Night/Menningarnótt
2011 in Iceland on 20 Aug with a line-up of Alan White,
Bernt Bodal, Spike Edney, Geoffrey Castle and Jeff Scott Soto,
plus newcomers Laurie
Wisefield and Robyn
Dawn (White, ex-Yes tribute band
Parallels).
Alan and wife Gigi co-founded and are on the board of directors for Music Aid Northwest (MAN), whose mission is "to bring business and community organizations together, with the talent and resources of the Northwest music industry, to provide funds to aid people in need while enhancing and promoting music awareness and performance throughout the region." (You can donate to MAN here.) MAN organise various benefit concerts. Alan is on the advisory board of Northwest Program for the Arts.
Other projects & solo
appearances
Alan White appears at Music
Aid Northwest's Play
it Forward II event on
14 Jan at Big Daddy's, Woodinville, WA.
Asked about a new
solo album in a Jan 2000 interview, White
said: "I've got tons of material, I just need the time to do it.
[...] I've had the material hanging around for a long time". In
a Nov 2001 interview, he said: "I've actually had a lot of
material, collected over years and years, but I use some of it
in every Yes album. However I'm collecting some other pieces and
maybe my second album will come out someday." In a Dec 2003
interview with Delicious
Agony, he said, "I have stockpiles of material," but that
he wanted to take his time over any project to "make sure it's
right." In his 2004 MSN Chat, White said, "I have a home studio
and I'm working on some solo projects as well [as the White
band]."
Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts.
Thanks.