Meet Cherry White | Singer-Songwriter & Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cherry White and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cherry, why did you pursue a creative career?
My mother played piano. I remember being really young and hearing her play piano and thinking , “She’s the best piano player ever! I want to play piano just like my mom.” So my mom started me with piano lessons at a very young age. I trained classically and then I became interested in composition at 11. The thing about it though was that I was really shy and I didn’t like performing or sharing my music with other people. I had terrible stage fright. But then, when I was 13 my family moved to Georgia and I enrolled in a performing arts high school in DeKalb County. I started training intensely and was immersed in music and the arts day and night. I took piano lessons, voice lessons, theory classes, dance classes, acting classes… I began opening up. Singing and playing music on stage became my therapy. I was able to channel the parts of myself that I thought of as weak and incompetent and morph those parts into this strange confident being that I never could be offstage. Performing was life changing. I knew that I could never not have music in my life ever again. There was nothing else I could imagine myself doing. Music had made me its willing hostage.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a writer first and foremost. I love singing. I love playing the piano. But my true passion is songwriting and composing. I’ve always loved the idea of “inventing” music. Hearing someone quote my lyrics or sing a musical phrase that I wrote or hearing a band or orchestra play music that came out of my head… there are no words to describe that. It’s magical! I think one thing that sets me apart from others is the fact that I do it all. I write lyrics and music. I do my own vocal arrangements. I produced and mixed all the tracks on my debut album, Muse. It was a lot of work but I loved it. Muse is my debut album. It definitely wasn’t easy. I’ve never done anything like it before. I’ve performed live a bunch of times. I’ve released music with other bands but I’ve never released a solo project. I’ll be honest, it was scary. I started working on my album in 2014. But I would start and stop, and stop and start over and over and over again. I would convince myself that it wasn’t good enough… that I wasn’t good enough. Then people started asking about this album that I said was coming out “soon.” That’s when I knew that I had to get over myself and just finish the album. People wanted to hear what I had to say. So, after much encouragement from Julian Scott Bryan and my other close friends I was able to finish. One lesson that I learned was that music is to be shared not hoarded. I have a lot of music inside of me that I’m now ready to let go of and share. I’ve also learned that allowing yourself to be vulnerable is part of the process. One thing that I would like the world to know about me is that there is more music that I will be sharing in months to come. I am currently collaborating on an album with Julian Scott Bryan. I am also in the process of working on my instrumental album. I’m really excited about this one! A lot of my fans have heard me sing but not a lot of them know that I compose. Hopefully it will be accepted by them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
One of my favorite spots in the city is Elliott Street Pub in Castleberry Hill. 1st off, they have THEE best sandwiches in all of Atlanta. Secondly, it is just an overall great place to hang. Elliott Street Pub is family. Mike and Pete, the owners, really support the music community. They are the greatest! If you’re ever in the area, stop by there! You won’t regret it!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out my high school alma mater. At the time that I graduated it was called DeKalb Center of the Performing Arts (DCPA). It is currently called DeKalb School of the Arts (DSA). DCPA, along with it’s founder and director Richard Leitgeb, shaped my musical future. Before DCPA, I was shy and intentionally average. DCPA, however, wouldn’t allow me to stay just ordinary. It pushed me to be my best and give over 100% of my effort into whatever project I was a part of. For that, I will always be grateful!

Website: www.cherrywhitemuse.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherrywhitemuse
Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rXSsx2ISynMPfATMHEHYf?si=hBL5F0rPT7S9NOamOWA1Eg

Image Credits
Brandon Boone, Karla Wilson Brawley, Nate Dorn