Touring has allowed White to travel throughout the United States and across the globe, as far away as Japan. Even so, he consistently credits the University of Wisconsin and the capital city, Madison, as the foundation for his career. “I owe a lot to the university - the friends I made there, the teachers I met there, being in that environment. UW is by far my most favorite place in the world,” White insists. “I’m not just saying that. I’ve been in other cities, and I really, truly love Madison.”

White’s four years in Wisconsin represent his most significant period of growth, his freshman year marking the beginning of a major transformation. When he could not squeeze a piano into his pint-size dorm room, he decided it was time to diversify his skills. White bought his first guitar at a music store on State Street and taught himself to play.

When he wasn’t in Bascom Hall scribbling political science notes, he was adding rhythm and melody to his own life stories. “Writing songs is like catching a firefly,” White explains. “There are so many different ideas going around, and … you [need to] have the clarity and the relaxation to kind of iron it through.”

White describes writing music as a delicate and intimate process. “My songs start with some kind of tune … a lyric that’s unique and different. A moment of weakness: cheating, dieting, eating chocolate cake – something with any personal meaning.”
But writing music is not effortless for him. “For me, it’s whenever I need to write I can’t write, and whenever I don’t need to, I can. Forced creativity is the most difficult, ironic idea in the entire world,” White mused.

White was relentless in seeking feedback on his early writing and music. “I used to force people to listen to my songs to get their input,” he recalls. Performances at local Madison haunts like Restaurant Magnus offered him exposure and confidence.

Returning to the familiar bustle of State Street and the serenity of Lake Mendota guarantees Madison as one of his most highly anticipated tour stops. White performed twice at downtown Madison’s Majestic Theatre in 2008. After his booking agency approached the theater for his first tour, the co-owners of the Majestic Theatre recognized White would have great appeal. “He’s a charmer, he’s got great stage presence, he’s certainly a laid-back guy and the ladies seem to love him,” says Matt Gerding, co-owner of the Majestic Theatre.

“He’s a very good guy, very easy to work with, very humble. He has a group of people surrounding him on tour that seem very dedicated to seeing his vision through. And I think from our end, in these tough economic times, he’s the kind of artist you want to continue to work with because he recognizes that we don’t need $300 worth of groceries in our dressing room. He’s just a real pleasure on a professional level,” declares Scott Leslie, co-owner of the theater. “Viva la Matt White!”

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