biography
Born in Hawaii to a family of artists, Simone White spent her early years playing in the dirt and moving from town to town. Her mother was a folksinger, her father a sculptor, grandma was a burlesque performer and auntie was a pop songwriter. Grandfather was a poet who favored the sonnet.
Drawn to the arts, Simone acted in plays and films, made photographs and wrote. Needing an instrument for the songs she wrote a cappella, Simone taught herself to play guitar. But other interests prevailed and it wasn't until she moved to New York from London in 2000 that she was ready to get on stage and play. She played at NYC clubs and bars and poetry-art parties. A chance meeting in 2004 took her to Nashville to record with Mark Nevers (Calexico, Will Oldham, Lambchop) and the result caught the interest of Damon Albarn's label Honest Jon's and she was signed.
Since the 2007 release of that record, I Am The Man, Simone has toured extensively, from Lincoln Center in New York to WOMAD in the UK, the Green Man Festival in Wales and throughout Europe. I Am The Man was a favorite with critics from MOJO to the Daily Mail and the single "The Beep Beep Song" became the soundtrack for a world-wide, award-winning ad campaign for Audi.
Simone White's album Yakiimo, released in 2009 by Honest Jon's, received 4 stars in UK's MOJO and entered the German Rolling Stone critic's pick at number 5. German Rolling Stone also featured Simone in its July 2009 issue. The opening track "Bunny in a Bunny Suit" toured the world as the soundtrack to an Omega watch commercial starring Nicole Kidman.
Simone White's latest album, Silver Silver, released in 2012 by Honest Jon's, was produced by Samuel Bing and Julian Wass of Fol Chen. The title track features a guest spot from Andrew Bird on violin and vocals. Both SPIN and NPR premiered tracks and videos from the album and it received 4 stars in UK's MOJO. The album was included in NPR's discussion Our Favorite Music of the Year So Far in June 2012 and "Big Dreams And The Headlines" was included on their final list of 100 Favorite Songs of 2012.
Simone lives in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
