Freddie White

Freddie White has been a household name in Ireland for over thirty years. We’ve now been lucky enough to have him move to Australia, and we intend to keep him. Freddie talks with BBM’s Sian Gammie about traveling the world and having a beer with Clapton.

Freddie White Ireland calls you a National Treasure. Do you reckon you’ll reach that status over here?

 Freddie White I’ll give it a good shot! [laughs] You know, I’ve always reveled in live performance and the older I get and the more I do it, the closer I feel to people. And as a result of that, recording is nearly always a disappointment to me. So I tend to shy away from it, even though I’m in the middle of a project right now!

I know you lived in Ireland and America, does moving over here feel like starting over?

Well, I emigrated to America and to England as well years before that. And America really did feel like emigrating. But I don’t feel that as much this time. Maybe it’s because Australians are a lot closer to me than Americans, you know? A lot of people describe Australia as being a lot like Ireland but with better weather! [laughs]

You’ve always done a lot of covers. What sort of songs do you look for?

Well I think musically they have to be reasonably interesting and something I can get my teeth into. I try to capture the essence of the original and also whatever passes through me in terms of my own interpretation. That seems to get people interested as well so I’m thankful for that.

I have to ask, what was it like touring with Clapton back in the ‘70s?

I bet I remember it better than he does! We decided that whatever money we made we spend on staying at the same hotels that he did which were the top hotels in Ireland. So I would come down for breakfast in the morning and Eric would already be in the bar. So I doubt he remembers much about it. But he was a total gentlemen.

You can chill out with another total gentlemen at his upcoming gigs across NSW, starting on May 18 at the Brass Monkey, Cronulla and then hitting Bulli, Enmore, Windsor and Katoomba till late June. Also catch him in Victoria on May 29.

His new album, Stormy Lullaby, is available now.