By Brent Thompson

Bella White has been busy of late. In 2023, the singer/songwriter released Among Other Things, a 10-track album of new material. In 2024, White released Five for Silver, a cover songs EP that finds her interpreting the songs of Neil Young and Lucinda Williams among others. On Saturday, September 14, White will perform at Avondale Brewing in support of The Red Clay Strays. Recently, she spoke with us by phone.

Southern Stages: On your covers EP Five for Silver, how did you select the material for the project?

Bella White: It wasn’t much of a detailed process or anything. We recorded those songs at the end of making my last record, Among Other Things. We just had the time to spare and didn’t have a big design for making this EP. It was more like, “Oh, we’ve got time to kill – let’s record some covers for fun.” It was nice because it took some of the pressure off.

Southern Stages: Have any of these cover songs found their way into your live sets?

White: Yeah, definitely. I’ve played “Unknown Legend” at shows and I’ve played “Concrete and Barbed Wire” a lot, so it’s fun to have them out in the world now.

Southern Stages: When covering someone else’s song, is there a challenge to retain the integrity of the song while placing your own stamp on it?

White: I try not to overthink it, but I think if a cover is too similar to the original then I’d rather just listen to the original version of the song. For me, it’s important to approach the song as though I wrote it and where it fits into my world.

Southern Stages: For the Among Other Things album, were the songs new compositions, older ones or a mixture of both?

White: It was a bit of both. Some of the songs had been around for a little while and I wrote the title track in the studio. It’s kind of fun to fuse those two things together.

Southern Stages: Some artists tell me that this is a great time to be in your position given the accessibility of music via Spotify, satellite radio, Youtube and other modern outlets. Others say, for the same reason, that the current climate makes it difficult to be found among the crowd. How do you view the state of the industry?

White: It’s a really strange time and it’s hard to say because I feel really grateful for the world of streaming and all of that because it helped me reach a larger audience. It’s incredibly accessible right now which is really great, but obviously the money isn’t following. I feel like it’s so easy to put out music, but it can feel challenging. I really don’t have one specific answer to the question because there are so many different dynamics. I appreciate the parts of it that have been helpful to me.

Southern Stages: How would you describe your writing process? Have you developed a pattern over the years?

White: Some moments it’s very fluid and it feels easy – other times it can feel dry and like I don’t have much to say and that can feel scary. I do write on the road, which has been a new thing for me in the past couple of months – I didn’t do that before. If I’m touring solo, I feel a little existential when I’m on tour and there’s a boiling pot of things to say. It’s an ever-evolving process and I’m always trying to take it as it comes.

Southern Stages: How do songs stay fresh to you after you’ve performed them literally hundreds of times?

White: They really don’t [laughs]. Sometimes it’s as simple as not playing a certain song for a little while or changing up the way that I play it. It’s about finding ways to allow it to grow with you.

On Saturday, September 14, Bella White will perform at Avondale Brewing in support of The Red Clay Strays. For ticket information, please visit www.avondalebrewing.com.