Crystal Wise
Angel White performs at Tannahill's Tavern and Music Hall during the Fort Worth Music Festival in March of 2024.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get when someone from your hometown makes a big splash in an industry that's notoriously tough to break into. That was exactly my reaction when I read six simple words in a Jan. 10 Rolling Stone article: “Angel White, ‘Save Some for Me' in the section of the mag that highlights freshly released singles. It wasn’t the cover story, but trust me, this is how the doors to bigger things start opening.
Reflecting on his initial reaction, White says he was taken back to his 15-year-old self. “I was just like, ‘Oh, this is crazy.’ Like I said, kind of a childhood accomplishment because we've seen all of our favorite people in Rolling Stone Magazine, and it's just really cool to be a part of that.”
For years, White has been grinding—playing original songs on the streets for anyone willing to listen, eventually evolving from a four-piece to a five-piece band. White now has a keyboardist, a sign that he might be on his way in the music industry. That relentless hustle is finally paying off. Rolling Stone's recognition is only the beginning. White is set to release his first full-length album, "Ghosts of the West," this year, with "Save Some for Me" serving as one of its first singles. Recorded over an intense 12-day session in Austin with producer Dwight Baker, the album promises to take listeners deeper into White's world.
“I've been sitting on it for a second, and people at my shows are like, ‘Do you have a record? Where's your album?’ I was like, ‘It's coming, I promise.’ But I finally tied up all the ends on it, and we're able to present it now,” he shares.
The loose ends White is referring to ended up being the most extensive writing process of this young artist’s life. White says he had to stay in place and hone in on ideas that were sometimes uncomfortable.
“We worked on the sound we wanted and found what we wanted to say. It was a lot of therapy sessions, it felt like, with me and Dwight, because we'd sit and talk for a couple of hours when we walked in, and it was like, ‘Alright, that's the song,’ and then by six o'clock everything's done. Then we'd just go back to the house and do the same thing the next day,” White explained. “Very routine, very smooth. We were just pulling stuff out of the air, which was great.”
Crystal Wise
Last time we talked with White, he was backstage at Tannahill’s after playing a show for the second annual Fort Worth Music Festival. Even then, he radiated that rare combination of humility and star quality—the sense that he was exactly where he was meant to be.
Maybe it’s because White’s music defies easy labels, blending pop, country, and a dash of R&B into a sound that is unmistakably Texan. His upcoming album dives into deeply personal territory, especially with songs like "Running in Place," which was born from a life-altering revelation about his family. At 21, White learned that the man he thought was his father wasn’t, and the truth opened up a hidden lineage of Black cowboys and Western heritage. This discovery shaped the album’s theme, turning it into a soulful exploration of identity, history, and self-discovery.
“I would say the whole catalyst of the record happened when I turned 21,” he imparts. “The story of the song happend when my aunt called and was like, ‘Hey, I need to tell you something. I've been waiting for a while—who you think is your dad is really not your dad, and your dad really is this guy.’ And I sat with it for a while. I mean, it felt like me writing and recording the song was me finally processing it, and that was six years later.”
This was new territory for the young artist, who has made a name for himself playing raucous live gigs. But channeling that live electricity into a cohesive record is no small feat. White approached it like piecing together a puzzle—carving out each piece until the bigger picture came to life.
With his core band intact and new additions like a keyboardist, White is ready to make 2025 his year. The recognition from Rolling Stone is more than a milestone; it’s a launchpad.
White isn’t just running in place—he’s running toward something big, and he’s taking all of us along for the ride.
“Essentially, this album is just me getting in touch with myself and a part of me that I had just discovered recently—being a musician and just an expressionist,” White says. “That's what we do. That's our way of connecting with ourselves or expressing things that we don't know how to talk about because I think I put it better in a song than I've been able to speak about it, and that's just the luxury and curse of being a musician.”
