Dee White

Emerging quietly from Alabama during 2018, Dee White embodied an unapologetic return to the gentle, atmospheric progressive country that marked the opening years of the 1970s. His debut album, Southern Gentleman, appeared in installments after he recorded it with co-producers Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson.

Raised in the unincorporated Alabama hamlet of Slapout, White devoted his teenage years to refining his retro-tinged country material. Through his father he met Harold Shedd, the producer celebrated for his work with Alabama, who arranged initial Music City contacts that prompted the young singer-songwriter to begin regular trips to Nashville at age 19. Those journeys led to a duet with Alison Krauss and an introduction to Dan Auerbach, who mentored White through songwriting sessions and joined David Ferguson in producing the album at Easy Eye Sound. The finished record included guest appearances by Krauss and Ashley McBryde and reached listeners in two parts, the opening side in August 2018 and the remainder in March 2019.