“I’ve never liked small talk much,” says Yasmine White. “When
I meet someone I want to know how they see the world, who they are. I want to
talk about their stories and struggles.” That need to understand is expressed
in her songs, with their accessible melodies and insightful, sometimes even painful
lyrics. “She isn’t shy about exploring the deals we make with each other
and with ourselves in the name of love and need,” says critic Rick Cowell.*
“It is striking how well Yasmine White is able to consistently touch that
innate yearning for love that we all share.”**
Yasmine placed second
in the folk category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, a prestigious international
competition founded by Yoko Ono, with judges who included Bjork James Brown, Judy
Collins, Elton John, Joan Osborne and Carlos Santana. She has also received honorable
mention in the Billboard World Song Contest, and has twice been a finalist in
the North Carolina Songwriter’s Contest.
She started her career in
the folk music scene in New York, sharing the stage with performers such as Suzanne
Vega, Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. “Then I left music for a good
amount of time,” she says. “I sort of walked away from it.” She
earned a board certificate in Music Therapy and worked with the elderly, people
in psychiatric units and health care centers, and children and adults with autism.
But she could never really drop the music. “I eventually started writing
songs in my car. I had tried to do something else but finally realized that I
had to honor "where I live" -- writing songs and performing.” Along
the way she has written songs from this experience about some of the people she
worked with. Some of the songs on her new CD -- In My Mind, Starve Me, and See
Her Whirl -- have been inspired by this experience and the people she has met
and worked with.
Yasmine has just released a new self-titled CD that presents
her original songs in a broad range of styles, ranging from alt-rock to electronic
to smoldering jazz – “all of it tied together by her inviting melodies
and pure voice.”*** The CD features a talented group of musicians that includes
guitarist Will MacFarlane (well-known for his work with Bonnie Raitt, The Pointer
Sisters and Jackson Browne), percussionist Beverly Botsford (known for her work
with Nina Freelon), and former Whiskeytown member Caitlin Cary. Starve Me, featured
on the new CD, has been selected by radio station MVYRadio for its upcoming Fresh
Produce music sampler.
As a performer, Yasmine grabs the audience and takes
them along on her emotional journeys. She was named best female vocalist for four
weeks in a row by the music website Garageband.com (the site continues to list
her as one of the top 20 all-time alternative rock female vocalists) and the accolade
is well deserved. Her voice has been called “sexy,” “expressive,”
“honest,” and “warm.” “Chapel Hill’s Yasmine White
continues to prove that talent only takes time to be fully recognized.” ***
* The Independent Weekly; ** Indie-Music.com, ***The Chapel Hill
News
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