Jim White
'Transnormal Skiperoo is a name I invented to describe a strange new feeling I've been experiencing after years of feeling lost and alone and cursed. Now, when everything around me begins to shine, when I find myself dancing around in my back yard for no particular reason other than it feels good to be alive, when I get this deep sense of gratitude that I don't need drugs or God or doomed romance to fuel myself through the gauntlet of a normal day, I call that feeling 'Transnormal Skiperoo.' Jim White / 2007
Jim White traveled many a junkyard road to get to Transnormal Skiperoo. Raised in Pensacola, Florida, a town crushed between the church and heroin, Jim's songs reach deep into the underbelly of the South. One time Pentacostal, fashion model, New York taxi driver, drifter, pro-surfer, photographer, film-maker, his music is the conduit for all the stories he collected along the way. His previous albums 'Wrong-Eyed Jesus' [1997], 'No Such Place' [2001] and 'Drill a Hole in That Substrate...' [2004] were acclaimed as masterpieces of 'outer space alt.country' and established Jim as a phenomenal maverick talent. Jim also starred in the BBC4 film 'Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus', an award-winning road-movie exploring Southern culture through its music and stories. Now living in an old farmhouse in the backwoods of Georgia, Jim White may have finally reached a place called home, but his other search, for what he calls 'the gold tooth in God's crooked smile' continues in this new set of backyard tales. Transnormal Skiperoo was produced by Joe Pernice and Michael Demming , recorded with the band Olabelle , and also features tracks with Tucker Martine and Laura Veirs, local Georgia legend Don Chambers & Goat, bluegrass duo Jeff & Vida and percussionist Mauro Refosco .
Jim White is a highly original voice in the immense Southern gothic tradition. When broken humanity aches for grace, music like his may give you a shot at redemption.
A Funny Little Cross to Bear Live EP will be released Feburary 3rd , 2009
Jim's newest full-length album, Transnormal Skiperoo is now out in stores and available on iTunes.
Watch Jim's film "The Beautiful World" on YouTube at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/user/pauldalen (it's in six parts). Made while attending NYU Film school in the early 90s, he describes the film as "a dystopic fairy tale that in no way resembles [his] musical tendencies... and was shot in the most severely blighted neighborhoods of NYC, like East New York and Bed-Stuy."
-Mama Lucky, an album Jim has co-produced with Tucker Martine, will be finished soon. The project uses never used, "especially off kilter songs" that Jim wrote over the years, which have been compiled, and performed with vocals by Linda Delgado.
Next summer Jim will be appearing in an art gallery in Dublin, displaying his "found art assemblages." More details to come as summer approaches, and the installation is pulled together.
Hellwood, Jim's side project with Johnny Dowd and Willie B is now available in the US via iTunes.
The animated music video for "If Jesus Drove A Motorhome" is now avaialble via YouTube.com
The first ever Jim White podcast is up and running.