biography
Born in Hawaii to a family of artists, Simone White spent her early years playing in the dirt and moving from town to town. Her mother was a folksinger, her father a sculptor, grandma was a burlesque performer and auntie was a pop song writer. Grandfather was a poet who favored the sonnet.
Drawn to the arts, Simone acted in plays and films, made photographs and wrote. Needing an instrument for the songs she wrote a cappella, Simone taught herself to play guitar. But other interests prevailed and it wasn't until she moved to New York from London in 2000 that she was ready to get on stage and play. She played at NYC clubs and bars and poetry-art parties. A chance meeting in 2004 took her to Nashville to record with Mark Nevers (Calexico, Will Oldham, Lambchop) and the result caught the interest of Damon Albarn's label Honest Jons and she was signed.
Since the 2007 release of that record, I Am The Man, Simone has toured extensively, from Lincoln Center in New York to WOMAD in the UK, the Green Man Festival in Wales and throughout Europe. I Am The Man was a favorite with critics from MOJO to the Daily Mail and the single "The Beep Beep Song" became the soundtrack for a world-wide, award-winning ad campaign for Audi.
Simone White’s latest album, Yakiimo, was released in 2009 by Honest Jon's, received 4 stars in UK’s MOJO and entered the German Rolling Stone critic’s pick at number 5. German Rolling Stone also featured Simone in its July 2009 issue.
When not touring, Simone lives in Venice, California. She has a fish pond, a garden, a lemon tree and a compost heap.
