| Greg White: Biography |
Greg White started his musical journey in junior high when on a trip to Alabama for Thanksgiving. While staying at relative's house
Greg found an old Vox electric guitar and a Marlboro amp in the closet at his distant relative's house. The whole week he did nothing
but mess with that old guitar and amp. Upon arriving home, his father told him he needed to get the rest of the luggage out of the van.
When Greg went to the car, there was the guitar and amp. Greg had grown up listening to the greats such as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson,
and all of the other popular 70s country singers while riding in that van. Now having his own way to make music, and at an age to break
away from his parents music, he ventured into the world of rock.
Playing in many Christian Rock bands through junior high and high school, Greg worked on his guitar skills, which would set him up for a
more professional future. After graduating from high school, Greg went to work for a regional artist as his live sound engineer. After 6
months, Greg knew that was not for him. Settling back into his parent's house in Texarkana, after being on the road for half a year, Greg
was told he either had to attend college or get a job. The choice he made was college. Greg joined the commercial music program at
Texarkana College in 1993. There he met many great professors and students who lived for music and recording, which sparked his love for
music theory and recording technology. While attending Texarkana College, Greg purchased some recording equipment from a friend and started
his own home studio. In 1994 Greg attended a recording session at S.M.A.R.T. Productions with a classmate from school who was an employee at
the studio. In an effort to learn more, Greg asked to intern and in one week was hired on. After graduating with an associates degree in commercial
music in recording, Greg continued to engineer, perform around Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and taught American Popular Music at the college.
"This period in my life started a love for music and recording knowledge and I knew I wanted to learn more. But where?"
Nashville was now the obvious answer for Greg. Greg went into the commercial music program at Belmont University in (Date Here) where he studied
music theory, arranging, and guitar. While attending Belmont, Greg started the Funk Jazz Band, Goodfoot, who played around Tennessee and Kentucky
and went on to perform at Belmont University's “Pop/Rock” Showcase and “Best of the Best” Showcase. "Belmont was so amazing. I fell into a crowd
of people who loved knowledge of music more than I could have ever imagined. Of course there were extra curricular activities but for the most part
all we did is play our instruments, discuss theory, and go see each others bands. We all fed off of each other and held each other to a high
standard of learning. Everyone I was around on a regular basis strived to learn more and to be more." When Greg was asked to perform on a classical
guitar recording session for a Christmas record Belmont was producing he met some of the up and coming engineers studying recording at Belmont.
This opened the door for Greg to play on many recording sessions at Belmont's Curb Records Studios where he fell in love with playing in the studio.
Greg's last semester before graduating he had the honor of writing jazz arrangements for The Belmont Big Band and was asked to write a commercial
arrangement for the Commercial Showcase that was performed by Sandra McCracken.
After graduation Greg was asked by a close friend to join the Ace Crye band who toured full time performing casinos and night clubs all over the
U.S. "This was a great time in my life. I had zero responsibility after all of the hard work at school. We were in a different city every week,
living in a hotel, and I was around 2 of my best friends in the world. Not to mention I was actually making a living playing music on my own for
the first time. These were some of the best times of my life. We would stay out 6 weeks and then go home for 1 week. I remember I couldn't wait to
get home and by the time the week was over I couldn't wait to leave. We spent most of our days home fishing and bumming around." While usually
staying on the road Greg still called Nashville his home. On one trip back to Texarkana the band stopped by S.M.A.R.T. Productions where the owner
offered Greg the opportunity to manage the studio and get back into engineering.
"I learned 2 important things at S.M.A.R.T. Productions, there is always a way to get the job done right. No matter what breaks or what happens you
can always get the job done right. No excuses! The second thing is I had to learn how to run a business and make money. The only way I could see to
do that is to make our clients successful. If they were successful they would keep coming back." At S.M.A.R.T. productions for the second time Greg
had the opportunity to start producing records. He honed his skills at producing, arranging, engineering, and gained a great deal of music business
knowledge while running the studio. In 2000 Greg started the publishing company Blue Sky International Music to bring songs to his clients who
needed material for their projects. Since then B.S.I. Music has grown into a full music business service company offering publishing, art design,
web design, and web hosting for bands and artists. Greg settled into Texarkana and became very involved in the local music scene writing articles
for texarkanarocks.com to help bands gain knowledge of subjects such as publishing, copyright law, and general knowledge of how to run your band
like a business and be successful. In September of 2005 Greg was asked to join the Jamie Richards Band. Greg having recently been married told his
wife Sara he would never go on the road again but this opportunity was too good to pass. So Greg scaled back his responsibilities at the studio and
hit the road again a few days a week while still producing and engineering sessions at S.M.A.R.T. In April of 2006 Sara gave birth to their son
Simon White and Greg left the Jamie Richards Band as a musician but added them as a client. "I remember telling Sara I would not go on the road
again but in my mind on the road means gone from home more than at home. With Jamie we were only gone a few days a week but when Simon was born I
felt like I was going to miss something if I was gone at all. I do still fill for Jamie when his guitarist can't make it, but I can't see myself
going out for more than a day or so anymore, I guess I could eat my words someday."
In June of 2006 Sara was surfing the net and ran across a studio for sale in Fort Worth, TX. This was the opportunity they had been waiting for.
In October Greg and Sara purchased Sounds Great Productions and have relocated to Fort Worth. "You never know what is going to happen! Sara and I
are so excited to have our own business doing something I love to do. From everything I have learned over the years I know I can offer my clients
not just a great record but the knowledge it takes to make the record successful after it is recorded. I still believe if I can help my clients
become successful on whatever level they want to achieve, I will be successful and this is my passion and why I do what I do. I Love it!!!!!!!
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