For those who aren't certain that folk music is for them, the Night Eagle is providing an antidote. Don White will prove once and for all that humor and music can be delivered by one performer, and that it works. Here is a man who seems comfortable in contrasts: Don worked a two-year stint as a comedian and host at Catch a Rising Star in Cambridge, but left the higher-profile comic circuit for the intimacy and creative possibilities in the coffeehouse setting. His reputation as a rollicking crowd-pleaser is legendary, but his thoughtul, spiritual inclinations are clearly expressed in his writing and approach to the world. Don has a real-life, blue-collar job, but he also has two CDs on the Lyric Moon label (of Acoustic Underground fame), one of which made it on to the Village Voice's critics' choice list last year. His comedy has been carefully crafted from years of studying comedians in their element, but his latest CD, "Rascal," is described as "100 percent music that slices close to the gut." He counts among his close friends and supporters some of the biggest names in the acoustic music scene, but he speaks honestly about his intended audience: "But when I write and think about performing, I think about people who wouldn't be caught dead at a folk show. I think about trying to present an evening that my mom would like, I think about my brother who drives a forklift and works his head off all week and wants to maximize his time off. The people I grew up with in Lynn are all factory people; they work for GE or at machine shops, they're civil servants or drive forklifts. They're the modern-day equivalent of who people like Woody Guthrie were singing for in the 1930s, and I think they're sort of out of the loop today. They don't think of folk music as their voice, they see it as maybe being a little bit elitist. Which is a shame. So I really think about those people when I set up my shows; I want to think my community would like what I'm doing."
Boston Globe writer Scott Alarik sums it up: "Don White is not only one of the funniest performers in modern folk music, but he also writes songs about life and love with a street-smart romanticism that is both entrancing and dignified. His writing resonates with working-class credibility and a sharp comic's eye." It is the live performance that captures Don's energy, engaging warmth, down-to-earth humanity, and original humor, providing "A-ha!" moments of realization instead of a sharp bite at someone's expense. "Nods of recognition and wry smiles replace laughter as White ventures boldly into broader and deeper waters with insight, wit and poignancy that leave geographical boundaries behind," says Churck Ginsberg for the Spotlight. Another writer for The Boston Globe adds, "...for this brash, satirical, and likeable humorist-songwriter, live is what it's all about. He plays an audience the way Leo Kottke plays a 12-string."
"The audience went crazy for him--he's by far the best new performer I've seen in a long, long time--believe me, he's got it!" -- CHRISTINE LAVIN
"White is a riot on stage, a bona fide crowd-pleaser and one of the most popular acts on the circuit." --THE BOSTON GLOBE
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"Clear eyes, sharp wit, perfect timing. Don White is a major talent." --LIVINGSTON TAYLOR
"Don White mixes an acute sense of timing with the heart of every man to put on concerts that move the listeners from laughter to tears and back again." --THE FOLK ALMANAC
