Brooke White to release High Hopes and Heartbreak

By editor: Jermy Leeuwis on June 10, 2009.

As a top five finalist on last season’s “American Idol,” Brooke White won the hearts of fans around the world with performances that were passionate, vibrant and strikingly beautiful. She returns July 21st with High Hopes & Heartbreak, a rapturously tuneful album that sees Brooke channeling a few idols of her own—Carole King, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and Elton John. The result is a stunning collection of songs brimming with warm, indelible melodies and hooks that stick after a single listen.

High Hopes & Heartbreak was produced by Dave Cobb (Shooter Jennings, Chris Cornell, Jamey Johnson) and executive produced by “Idol” judge/veteran producer/session player Randy Jackson. It’s worth noting that this is Jackson’s first project with a member of the “Idol” alumni. He’s also co-managing White with Carl Stubner, head of Sanctuary Artist Management.

Details Artist: Brooke White Title: High Hopes and Heartbreak Release date: 07/21/09 Record label: June Baby Records Single: Radio Radio Official website: Brooke White Buy at: Amazon Send to a Friend

"I wanted to work with Brooke from the moment I met her,” says Jackson. “When she sang, I instantly heard the legendary greats that inspired her: Carole King, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell. She truly is an artist for all ages. And this album is a great collection of songs from a great new artist who was birthed on the stage of ‘American Idol.’ I’m so happy to be working with an amazingly talented artist at the beginning of her career."

The album will be released through June Baby Records, a brand-new indie label formed by White, Jackson and Stubner.

"If there was one valuable lesson that I learned from my ‘Idol’ experience, it would be to remain true to myself, even if that means going down the road less traveled and taking a few risks," says the singer-songwriter. "I’ve been hands-on with all aspects of this record, so I decided to form my own label and release it myself, too. Once the decision was made, it felt pretty liberating.”

White, who co-wrote the entire record, took the same approach with the album, crafting songs free of genre restrictions. “The goal was to create a very free-flowing, adventurous type of record,” she says. “I wanted it to have the feel of a classic, timeless album.”

A native of Phoenix, Arizona, White began singing at age 15. She turned heads during last season’s “Idol” by delivering breathtaking renditions of songs by the Beatles (“Let It Be”), Dolly Parton (“Jolene”) and Neil Diamond (“I Am I Said”). After she sang Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Simon proclaimed White to be her favorite “Idol” vocalist. Following her appearance on the show, White appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and performed on “Live with Regis and Kelly” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” among others.

Earlier this year, White released “Hold Up My Heart,” which hit No. 2 on the iTunes Pop Singles Chart.

Brooke White biography
Growing up in Arizona, Brooke White was surrounded by music. Her father Brad played the trumpet for seven years and was in a marching band. Although her mother Kaylene has a lovely voice she chose drum lessons over singing and is now seriously into playing piano. Brooke’s brother Tyler was able to play the drums the first time he sat down with them. Her sister Katie has a very similar singing voice to Brooke and brother Quinn plays trumpet in the school marching band, is proficient on cello and is currently concentrating on guitar.

Brooke was born into musical family that preferred to make music over watching television on June 2, 1983. She first realized she had talent at age seven, when she heard the Richard Marx song “Right Here Waiting” on the radio. “I sat down at the piano and my fingers automatically knew which keys to hit. It was like recalling something I already knew.”

Brooke credits her parents, who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, for giving her a wide knowledge of songs that were hits before she was born. “We spent a lot of time listening to KOOL 94.5, the oldies station in Phoenix. We listened to Carole King’s ‘Tapestry’ in the car. And my parents would play Carly Simon, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, America, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, the Carpenters, and a lot of Motown and country music. I didn’t realize at the time listening to all of these artists was building a foundation for me, completely shaping who I am.”

Brooke was too shy to consider singing in public, but was convinced by a cousin to try out for a high school production of “Meet Me In St. Louis.” “I really got into it, and I was given the lead role. I went home and cried and told my parents I didn’t want to do it.”

After starring in the musical, Brooke took vocal lessons. “The teacher asked me if I had ever heard of Carole King and asked me to sing ‘It’s Too Late’ and it changed my life. My vocal instructor asked me what I wanted to do with my life and since I was going to beauty school, I told him I wanted to be a cosmetologist. He said I should pursue a career in music and I laughed. ‘No way!’ But then I started to accept the idea.”

Brooke graduated from high school, dropped out of beauty school and moved to Los Angeles. She was 17 and after a short while returned home and stopped playing music for two years. “I just wasn’t ready yet,” she assesses. She worked at Nordstrom and started dating a guy from Novia Scotia, Dave Ray, who would later become her husband.

Dave was surprised when Brooke told him she was going back to L.A. to check out a place called the Musicians Institute. She sat in on an improv class and decided to enroll after realizing that all of her previous experiences had been leading to this moment.

Settled in L.A., she found work as a nanny to twin baby girls and played her first gig, at Molly Malone’s on Fairfax. She recorded an album, “Songs From The Attic” produced by Tim Simms. Released on an independent label, the CD featured nine songs written or co-written by Brooke and covers of Coldplay’s “Yellow” and Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”

Brooke started watching “American Idol” during the series’ third season. “I thought I could never compete in anything like that.” Nevertheless, she entered a contest sponsored by a Los Angeles radio station, submitting a video of one of her original songs, “Free.” After a public vote, she ended up in the top five and performed for judge Kiefer Sutherland at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip. She didn’t win but the experience led to her next step.

“That was in August 2007 and the ‘Idol’ auditions had already happened in San Diego,” Brooke says. “There was going to be one more audition city, Philadelphia, and it was going to happen in two days. I went to a wedding in Arizona, and I knew I just had to get on an airplane and fly to Philadelphia.” Traveling by herself, Brooke caught a red-eye and waited 20 hours before she finally auditioned just before midnight. When it was time to go before Simon, Randy and Paula, she was the very last contestant they saw in the City of Brotherly Love. She sang Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like A Star” and was given the golden ticket to go to Hollywood.

When she arrived in Hollywood, Brooke learned that for the first time, contestants would be able to appear on stage with instruments. She played the piano and sang Carole King’s “Beautiful” from “Tapestry,” which had become Brooke’s favorite album of all time. That performance helped assure Brooke’s place in the top 24. Week by week she sang hits like the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Neil Diamond’s “I Am…I Said” and Pat Benatar’s “Love Is A Battlefield,” usually barefoot, for millions of viewers and won enough votes to continue into the top 12, the top 10 and finally the top five.

Brooke joined the other top 10 finalists on tour, performing in arenas all over America. This season, she returned to “American Idol” as an alumnus, performing her new song, “Hold Up My Heart.” Within 48 hours of her performance, the song had achieved top 10 status on iTunes, and within seven days the single was the highest-debuting song on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Now, Brooke takes the next step with her first album for a major label. “High Hopes And Heartbreak” will be released in July on Brooke’s own label, June Baby, with distribution by Fontana through the Universal Music Group.

“From the moment I stepped off the airplane coming home from the summer ‘American Idol’ tour, all I could think about was getting to work on this record,” says Brooke. “I knew I wanted the album to have a very organic and authentic feel, with elements reminiscent of classic songs I listened to while growing up.”

The writing process for the album began in Nashville, where Brooke collaborated with various songwriters. She returned home with five songs and continued to work with other writers, including fellow seventh season “American Idol” contestant Michael Johns. A majority of the album was produced by Dave Cobb and recorded at his 1974 Recordings studio in Silverlake, Calif., with engineer Greg Gordon.

“I loved the entire process of recording,” says Brooke, who was involved in every aspect of making the album, including sequencing the songs, choosing the cover art and designing the CD booklet. “It’s an art journal I have kept, with drawings, paintings, photographs and hand-written lyrics. This will also be an interactive part of my website. Music has become such a digital experience that the visual and more artistic side of albums is almost lost. It really was important to me to incorporate something very artistic and personal in making ‘High Hopes And Heartbreak.’”

---

Share this:

LEAVE A REPLY Your name:  Rate: 012345 Captcha:    If so, please register or login here.