Lari White

Although I did not know Lari the way most of her other friends in the Nashville music business did, I did know her for well over three decades and it was the music world that naturally connected us. In the early 1980s, I had a guitar shop on the gulf coast in Clearwater, Florida, where I gave lessons to her father Larry. He would often speak about her musical endeavors . I believe she was a freshman in college at Miami then . As it would turn out, back home in Dunedin during her summer break, she sang with a weekend warrior group called Flashback. I would also play with them a year ot so later. They were still talking about this little girl with a big beautiful voice.

I believe she moved to Nashville a short time after I did in the late '80s. I first heard her on the TNN Show , "You Can Be A Star." Yes Indeed, she had a beautiful voice. She also won the grand prize of a recording contract on Capitol Records. While all that excitement for her was germinating, she was still singing demos around town. I had this tune "Morning Song" that I had written when I lived in Easthampton, LI well over a dozen years and another lifetime before. It was about a sad end of a relationship, hence the melodic mood you hear . Now as a fledging Nashville tunesmith, I thought it would benefit greatly with a few positive lyric changes, but especially with voice like hers . I already had some tracks I put down on a cassette porta studio some years back and wondered if the key would work for her . She didn't seem too concerned with that. I sent her a tape , she came over to my apartment one afternoon and did it in one take and then sang a harmony track she created on the spot. She was a total pro and really, really, nice to work with. What you are listening to was the result. It's no sonic wonder with all those tracks compresed and bounced on a skinny little cassette tape, but that "Skinny White Girl " as she would call herself, sure had a big fat beautiful voice that could soar. Much bigger things were instore for both of us here just down the road a piece. Cindy Greene another friend of mine wrote "Now I Know" one of Lari's big hits when she was on RCA in the '90s. One of my favorite recordings she did was a duet of Townes Van Zandt's tune "If I Needed You" that she sings with Gove Scrivenor on his CD "SHINE ON", Gove is another old friend of mine .

A year or so ago, we made contact on Facebook and I dug out that old cassette and played it for her. She remembered it and said lets get together sometime for lunch or brunch and talk about this wild and crazy business we are in. Sadly we never did. Last December, I was in Florida for the winter when I first heard the news about Lari's illness. Within a few weeks, she was gone. But I'll never forget her and if I can't , just imagine the impact she left on those who really knew her well.