PREVIEW: Bella White and A Sign in the Weather
09/11 @ Oldtone Festival, Hillsdale, NY
Press photo provided
“I'm always trying to put the music first and make music that I really connect with.”
By 26 years old, she has already released three albums and established herself as a rising voice in the Bluegrass and Americana world. Currently, she’s preparing to hit the road for her A Sign In the Weather Tour starting in September, where she will travel across the country. There’s no doubt that Bella White is an upcoming icon.
“I'm always trying to put the music first and make music that I really connect with. That's always been something I've loved to do.”
Her album, A Sign In the Weather, was released this past June. Vulnerable with an old time feel, the album has 11 distinct songs that uniquely touch listeners. Her voice paves the feel of the music, with a folky, angelic twist to it. It’s intimate, honest, and carries an overarching theme: being “in the driver's seat” of hard changes to your life.
“I was sort of going through a lot of big transitions in my life all at once; I felt like I was really entering a new chapter as I started writing that album,” she explains. “And I feel like this time, I'm sort of the one who's uprooting here, so I’m kind of being confronted with all the feelings that coincide with that.”
Bella’s first album, Just Like Leaving,was released in 2020, which she told me was during her first big heartbreak. Since then, besides releasing two more albums, she has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, Newport Folk Festival and Stagecoach, and had her music featured in The Hunger Games. She’s moved all across the country — writing her first album in Boston, and now residing in New Orleans.
“I think I was inspired by different qualities of each place because I was just in really distinctly different phases of my life everywhere that I lived,” she says.
Through all the change, she’s grown a lot as a person and artist.
“I'm more comfortable with myself and speaking up for myself,” she adds. “I'm a little bit more dialed into the kind of music that I'm really connecting with and being able to really speak through my songs, I guess.”
If she had a chance to talk to her past self, her advice would be “to stick to her guns,” a concept she’s gotten better at as she’s matured. “Don't let anyone try to tell you to change something if you know that it's right.” That theme presents itself throughout her new album. However, she admits that she still is growing and figuring out how to find her authentic style. She explains that continuing to evolve while trying to keep her unique sound is a challenge.
As this new tour comes up, her goal is to empower and connect with her audience, quickly noting that she doesn’t have a defined group she targets her work for.
“Whoever wants to come in is invited, you know?” she laughed. “At the end of the day, I've realized that nothing feels better than just a show full of people who fuck with the music.”
Bella White’s tour begins on September 28, in Los Angeles, preceded by an appearance at Oldtone Festival in Hillsdale, NY on September 11. A Sign in the Weather is available on all major streaming platforms.