Roland White


Roland Joseph White was an American bluegrass music artist, performing principally on the mandolin. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017.

Biography

White was born in Madawaska, Maine, on April 23, 1938, as Roland Joseph LeBlanc, and grew up speaking French. He was of French-Canadian descent. At an early age, White formed himself, his two brothers and his sister into a bluegrass band which performed locally. When the family moved to California, the group won a talent show on a local radio station, after which a television station hired them as The Country Boys.
After a two-year US Army enlistment, White re-joined the Country Boys, now renamed The Kentucky Colonels. In 1967, he had the opportunity to join the Blue Grass Boys, the backup band of his childhood idol Bill Monroe. He contributed to nine cuts with this band. He stayed with that group until 1969, when he joined the Nashville Grass, the new backup band of Lester Flatt. White stayed with Flatt until 1973, when he, Clarence and Eric re-united as The New Kentucky Colonels. This only lasted a few months; he and Clarence were struck by an automobile as they loaded their equipment into their car after a performance. Roland White suffered a dislocated shoulder, but Clarence died in the accident.
White then joined the progressive bluegrass group Country Gazette, staying with them for 13 years. In 1987, he joined the Nashville Bluegrass Band, staying with that group until 2000. After that he formed the Roland White Band, which was still active until his death.
White was a noted mandolin teacher who gave many workshops and private lessons and published book/CD instruction sets. Roland White died on April 1, 2022, at the age of 83 from complications of a heart attack.

Discography

Solo albums

  • 1976: I Wasn't Born To Rock'n Roll reissued in 2010 by Tompkins Square
  • 1994: Trying To Get To You
  • 2003: Jelly On My Tofu with the Roland White Band
  • 2014: Straight-Ahead Bluegrass with the Roland White Band
  • 2018: A Tribute to the Kentucky Colonels Roland White And Friends

    Collaborations

  • 1964: Dobro Country with Tut Taylor and Clarence White
  • 2018: ''Jim Lauderdale & Roland White''

    With the Kentucky Colonels">Kentucky Colonels (band)">Kentucky Colonels

  • 1964: Appalachian Swing!
  • 1975: Livin' In The Past live recordings 1961-1965
  • 1976: 1965-1966 compiled privately recorded live sessions
  • 1978: 1966
  • 1984: On Stage
  • 1991: Long Journey Home recorded July 1964 at the Newport Folk Festival
  • 2003: Live in Stereo 1965 Vancouver concert

    With the https://rolandwhite.com/store.html#sweden New Kentucky Colonels

  • 2012: Live in Holland 1973
  • 2016: ''Live in Sweden 1973''

    With Country Gazette">Country Gazette (band)">Country Gazette

  • 1976: Out To Lunch
  • 1976: Country Gazette Live
  • 1977: What a Way To Make a Living
  • 1979: All This, and More Money, Too
  • 1981: American and Clean
  • 1982: America's Bluegrass Band
  • 1986: Bluegrass Tonight
  • 1987: Strictly Instrumental
  • 1991: ''Hello Operator...This is Country Gazette''

    With The [Nashville Bluegrass Band]

  • 1990: The Boys Are Back in Town
  • 1991: Home of The Blues
  • 1993: Waitin' for the Hard Times to Go
  • 1995: Unleashed
  • 1998: ''American Beauty''

    Also appears on

  • 1969: Joe Greene - Joe Greene's Fiddle Album
  • 1971: Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman - Lester 'N' Mac
  • 1971: Lester Flatt - Flatt on Victor
  • 1972: Lester Flatt - Foggy Mountain Breakdown
  • 1972: Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman - On The South Bound
  • 1972: Lester Flatt - Kentucky Ridgerunner
  • 1973: Lester Flatt - Country Boy Featuring Feudin' Banjos
  • 1973. Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman - Over the Hills to the Poorhouse
  • 1975: Alan Munde - Alan Munde's Banjo Sandwich
  • 1976: Dave Ferguson and his Friends - Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Other Fiddle Tunes
  • 1976: Dan Huckabee - Why Is This Man Smiling
  • 1977: Charlie Hardiman - On The Well-Beaten Path To Bluegrass
  • 1977: Butch Robins - Forty Years Late
  • 1977: Buck White and the Down Home Folks - That Down Home Feeling
  • 1978: Bobby Hicks - Texas Crapshooter
  • 1978: Paul Warren with Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass - America's Greatest Breakdown Fiddle Player
  • 1980: Joe Carr - Otter Nonsense
  • 1980: Alan Munde - The Banjo Kid Picks Again
  • 1981: Blaine Sprouse - Summertime
  • 1983: The Dreadful Snakes - Snakes Alive!
  • 1988: Glen Duncan - Sweetwater
  • 1990: Doc Watson - On Praying Ground
  • 1991: David Grier - Freewheeling
  • 1992: Stuart Duncan - Stuart Duncan
  • 1992: Marty Stuart - Let There Be Country
  • 1994: Gene Wooten - Sings & Plays Dobro
  • 1995: Clint Black - Looking for Christmas
  • 1995: Joe Carr and Alan Munde - Windy Days and Dusty Skies
  • 1996: Leroy Mack - Leroy Mack & Friends
  • 1996: Bernadette Peters - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
  • 1998: Valerie Smith - Patchwork Heart
  • 2000: Kazuhiro Inaba - Dixie Dream
  • 2000: Valerie Smith - Turtle Wings
  • 2002: Ricky Skaggs and Friends - Sing The Songs Of Bill Monroe
  • 2004: Clint Black - Christmas with You
  • 2007: Ry Cooder - My Name Is Buddy
  • 2010: Skip Battin - ''Topanga Skyline''

    Relevant literature

  • Black, Bob. Mandolin Man: The Bluegrass Life of Roland White. University of Illinois Press, 2022.