“The Martyr” – New Music from John Paul White

Beulah, produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and White, was recorded in Muscle Shoals at the renowned FAME Studios and at White’s own Single Lock Studios, which he founded and runs with Ben Tanner and Will Trapp. The record is a diverse collection of swampy southern rock, folk balladry and dark acoustic pop, songs that came unbidden to White, who wasn’t entirely welcoming of them at the time. “Honestly, I tried to avoid them, but then I realized the only way I was going to get rid of them was if I wrote them down. I got my phone out, and I’d sing these little bits of melody, then put it away and move on. Eventually I got to a place where it was a roar in my head, and that pissed me off. Then one day I told my wife, ‘I think I’m going to go write a song.’ She was as surprised as I was. I went and wrote probably eight songs in three days,” he says. “It was like turning on a faucet.”