Oct 11, 2018: From the Publisher's Perch - Legends of the Lake Continued….. Don White, the leader of the Grand Band Certainly, one of the things separating our great lake from many others are the amenities Grand lake has to offer. Lakeside restaurants, clubs and other gathering places which feature live music may well be leading the way along with easy lake access, real estate developments and the largest concentration of boat dealerships in the southwest. Tunes are what makes many places prosper and perhaps the most recognizable musician on Grand Lake is none other than Don White, who has dominated the music scene since the early nineties.
When contacted about being a subject of our Legends of the Lake series, he relied, “Yeah, legends come about by living the longest. ... ” (full article)

Mar 8, 2018: Pop culture: Gary Busey returns to hometown, play drums at Soul City
     "Actor Gary Busey returned to visit his hometown of Tulsa this week. The homecoming included a jam session Wednesday night at Soul City of Tulsa.
     Playing the drums, Busey sat in with Don White, Steve White, and Casey Van Beek as the performed at the gastropub and music venue.
By Timmie Tramel, Scene Writer, The Tulsa World, (full article)

DW performing "Tulsa Shuffle" on Tulsa's Channel 6 to promoto Boots and Bow Tie benefit

May 19, 2018: Don White with Stephen White and special guest Travis Fite: (full article)

Jun 9, 2018: Airplaydirect.com updated Don and Steve White's Bios

May 16, 2017: The Tulsa Spotlight Theatre Hosts Song Legend Don White & Songwriter Bernie Nelson
     Nashville hit singer-songwriter Bernie Nelson and Tulsa’s legendary singer-songwriter Don White will be performing together in listening room style at the historic Tulsa Spotlight Theater, performing their original music in an up close and personal, story-telling type acoustic show. ... Native Tulsan Don White is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound with his smooth blend of Rhythm and Blues, Country/Blues, and his signature Honky Tonk Shuffle. Recently White received a personal request from Eric Clapton to join him on his new album, “The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale. ... Don White has performed as a solo act in concert with Waylon Jennings, J.J. Cale, Dwight Yoakum, Suzy Boggus, Willie Nelson, Don Williams, George Strait, Merle Haggard, Delbert McClinton, ... songwriting credits include; Rosanne Cash, The Oak Ridge Boys, Suzy Boggus, Razzy Bailey and Davis Daniel. ... (full article)

Oklahoma Music Shop: Don White - Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Don has been much in the News lately with the buzz generated by "Eric Clapton & Friends - The Breeze (an appreciation of JJ Cale)" CD.

NPR Radio: "Eric Clapton And J.J. Cale: Notes on a Friendship.

DW's comments on his "Sensitive Kind" track on this video.
DW's on this video also.

Oklahoma Magazine Sep 2014 issue: Don's interview about the new CD.

JJ Cale once said about Don "... when I came back from California broke, Don gave me a job. He was a country singer-songwriter and he is really good. You know when country music went from strictly country to country boogie? ... Don was doing that before anybody. He went to Nashville for a while. ... and he’s got a couple of songs that would kill you, man."

What the reviewers of the new CD had to say about DW:

RollingStone Review: By Patrick Dolye, 07/29/2014: "– and, best of all, Don White, from Cale's native Tulsa, Oklahoma, howls the Burrito Brothers-style stomper "I'll Be There," grooving like a high-noon drive through the Baja desert."

A Tribute To Tulsa Sound
Tulsan Don White contributes his talents to an album honoring the late J.J. Cale.
(An Interview with Don White)
By John Wooley
Oklahoma Magazine
Published: August 25, 2014
       What seemed to be an offhand comment made during a sad occasion turned into something far greater for Don White, the veteran Tulsa-based singer, songwriter and guitarist.
       The occasion was the August 2013 funeral of White's friend J.J. Cale, ... Held on the West Coast, where Cale had lived, the invitation-only service included several of Cale’s hometown friends, ...
       ... “Everybody else who was there [from Tulsa] knew Eric [Clapton],” recalls White. “When he was hanging around Tulsa, I guess I was on the road or something; anyway, I only met him that day, at the funeral. We were all kind of standing around the cemetery, talking, and Eric says, ‘I was wanting [Cale] to help me with my next record, but that can’t happen now, I guess.’”
       ... “Eric said, ‘Oh, yeah, Walt’ll be on the next record.’ Then he looked at me and said, ‘You should be on it, too.’”
       White laughs.
       “I said, ‘How do you know I’m worth a damn? You’ve never heard me play.’”
       A few hours later, that was no longer true. ... Clapton and White took the stage first, with Keltner on drums. ... he [Eric] got down, and Keltner got down, and I called up Markham and Karstein and [guitarist] Don Preston. We did about three or four songs, so Eric heard me play and sing,” ... including one called 'The Sensitive Kind,' which he [White] sings on the new record ... “I’ve been doing that song for 25 years, so I already knew it. When I finished my solos on it, Eric said, ‘That’s great. I think that’s it.’ ... a couple of weeks [later]... The caller on the other end [of the phone] identified himself as “Eric.” ... ‘I’m doing a tribute album to [Cale], and I thought maybe you’d like to come out and be in the band.’
       “Well, that was too cool. I said, ‘You bet.’ And he said, ‘I thought maybe you’d like to sing two or three songs on it.’ So I went out there, and that’s what I did.”
       ... “One of the ones I do is called ‘Train to Nowhere,’” he says. “It ended up with Mark Knopfler and me in a sort of duet. It’s a Cale song, but it’s never been released. ... it also includes a new version of the 1954 Ray Price country shuffle “I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)” – a song Cale covered on his 1974 album, Okie. Clapton backs up White on the vocals for the new version, making for “a real country-sounding track,” White says. With “I’ll Be There” and its melding of country and rock ‘n’ roll, White returns to the sound that brought Cale into his Tulsa band almost a half-century ago. (full article)

JJ Cale among Tulsans named as
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame 2014 inductees
The five members of Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Class of 2014 will include JJ Cale.
By JERRY WOFFORD World Scene Writer
Tulsa World
July 30, 2014
       The induction ceremony will include performances from Bishop, Keltner and Blackwell. Cale and Fulson are being honored posthumously.
       “Both he (Keltner) and Chuck Blackwell were my idols when I was a kid,” said David Teegarden, a fellow drummer and Tulsa native who is set to perform on Nov. 1. “It’s fun to see them get the recognition and play, as well.”
       Teegarden attended the press conference announcing the inductees Tuesday along with Jimmy “Junior” Markham, Don White and inductee Blackwell.
       Several of the performers slated for the Nov. 1 show also contributed to the Cale tribute album that was released this week. (full article)

Tulsa musicians join Eric Clapton to remember J.J. Cale
By JERRY WOFFORD World Scene Writer
Tulsa World
Published: August 20, 2014
       At least one thing Eric Clapton has in common with Don White and scores of musicians from Tulsa: J.J. Cale was their hero.
       “The thing about him was he was cool,” said White, who grew up in Tulsa and looked up to Cale, even when Cale was a guitarist in one of his bands. “No matter what, who he was around, he was always the coolest person in the room. Always.”
       ... To pay tribute to the man whose songwriting credits include “Cocaine” and “After Midnight,” White, Clapton, several of those Tulsa musicians and more who appreciated the pioneering rock icon recorded a new album of Cale songs.
       ... The first person he [Eric] called to work on the album was White. The two had never met until Cale’s funeral.
       “He introduced himself to me and said, ‘I would like to say hello. I’m the guy that gave John his first job,’” Clapton told NPR in an interview that aired last weekend. “It turned out that J.J. played in his band until he decided that he wanted to make a record, and then he excused himself. I was really impressed with this guy. He was a gentleman, you know?”
       ... White recalled the phone call as just an invitation to come play in the band Clapton was putting together. It turned out that White would sing and play guitar on three of the songs, the only Tulsan of those who flew out for the album to be featured so prominently.
       White said he would have been thrilled to play just some rhythm guitar on one of the songs on the album.
       “That was way more than I expected,” White said. ...
       [About White giving Cale is first job] ... After Clapton had already recorded Cale’s “After Midnight,” Cale was coming through Tulsa and met up with White, who had just quit his job with an oil company to start his own band.
       “He said what kind of band are you going to have? I said, ‘I’m going to sing country music, but I’m going to play like we play,’” White said. “He said, ‘That sounds fun — I’d like to play in a band like that.’ I said ‘OK.’ Real fast, I said ‘OK.’” ... (full article)

Eric Clapton honors JJ Cale with a cool 'Breeze'
USA Today
Published: July 30, 2014
       ... The lack of mainstream recognition and commercial success was of little concern to the artist, says longtime friend and occasional bandmate Don White. "He had plenty of opportunities that he turned down,'' says White. "He was right where he wanted to be.''
       White met Clapton at Cale's funeral, and later was invited to sing and play on three Breeze tracks.
       "Eric was wonderful,'' says White. "He had total respect for the music of Cale and for Christine (Cale's widow) and the family. The artists on there didn't try to impose their styles. Most stayed pretty close to Cale's style.'' (full article)

Correction: Music-Eric Clapton story
Joshua Star
The Associated Press
July July 29, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In a story July 24 about Eric Clapton's new album "The Breeze," The Associated Press reported erroneously the first name of singer Don White.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Eric Clapton says thank you to friend and inspiration JJ Cale with 'The Breeze'
By CHRIS TALBOTT
AP Music Writer
July 24, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)
       ... Cale died a year ago this week at 74. Though he didn't have a major hit as a performer, he wrote some of rock 'n' roll's most identifiable songs. Lynyrd Skynyrd had one of its biggest hits with "Call Me the Breeze," and [Eric] Clapton took both "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" to No. 1.
       Cale's music continues to inspire and push Clapton in powerful ways, something Clapton marks with the release this week of "The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale," a 16-track thesis study in Cale's career.
       Clapton was struck by the idea on a 12-hour flight to Cale's funeral, and planned it out in a burst of inspiration.
       He thought he'd do the album for himself, and if he never released it, so be it. But he met Don White, one of the first band leaders to hire Cale, at the funeral and invited him to record a song. Once White was onboard, Clapton decided to open it up to other friends, and brought in Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler and John Mayer with drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Nathan East serving as the rhythm section. (full article)

Music News Nashville: Eric Clapton & Friends Video for I Am The Breeze Out Now: "... To honor JJ’s legacy, a year after his passing, Clapton gathered a group of like-minded friends and musicians for Eric Clapton & Friends: The Breeze, An Appreciation of JJ Cale was released July 29, 2014. With performances by Clapton, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Derek Trucks and Don White, the album features 16 beloved JJ Cale songs and is named for the 1972 single “Call Me The Breeze.” ...