Effron White
Effron White was born in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1954. He was first exposed to the music of Bob Dylan in the early sixties, when the strange new sounds of that young folk singer came eminating out the walls of his older brother's bedroom. A few years later, he took over the guitar his brother had gotten for Christmas and claimed it as his own. In college, at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, he majored in art while writing songs and performing with his college musical partner, Elmo Sapwater, as the duo Sapwater and White.
After earning a master's degree in art, in 1985, he began concentrating more seriously on singing and songwriting. By 1990 he was performing regularly in venues all around northwest Arkansas.
When you hear Effron White, you are immediately struck by the uniqueness of his songs and their delivery. His gravelly vocal quality is reminiscent, at times, of Tom Waits, John Prine, or Bob Dylan; yet, there's a personal earthiness that drives the emotional truth of his songs right into your heart.
As a songwriter, Effron draws his influences from those legends of the past who are looked upon as poets as much as songwriters, such as, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and Guy Clark. His skills as a singer/songwriter have resulted in nationwide recognition. In 2004, Effron won the coveted "New Folk" Award at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival. He has been honored, also, as the Northwest Arkansas Music Award's "Best Folk Artist", and his song, "Yankee Dime" was voted "Best Original Song" at the 2002 Ozark Music Awards. His songs have placed in many other competitions, including, the "Chris Austin Songwriting Contest" at Merlefest, Wilkesboro, NC; the Enormous Records contest, Nashville, TN; the Woody Guthrie Songwriting Competition, Okemah, OK; the Walnut Valley "NewSongs" Showcase, Winfield, KS; and the Unisong International Songwriting Contest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Kerrville "New Folk" Award Winner, 2004
Northwest Arkansas Music Awards (NAMA) "HALL OF FAME", 2008
Northwest Arkansas Music Awards (NAMA) "Best Singer-Songwriter", 2006 and 2007!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~"Effron White has got what it takes as a songwriiter. Every song tells a story and his voice is full of the character needed to deliver it."--Paul Pearcy (Jerry Jeff Walker, Lost Gonzos, Dixie Chicks, Terri Hendrix Band)
"Best version of that song I have ever heard."--Guy Clark, on hearing Effron perform "L.A. Freeway"
"I am a fan of his music and delivery."--Crow Johnson, singer/songwriter
"He's very sincere, a great storyteller."--Fred Bogert, record producer
"Everybody deserves to hear some Effron!"--Kevin Benson, owner-Benson's BBQ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
LicensePlate Generator at OurSpace.biz
Get EFFRON-ized! Join our email list
* required