Country music storyteller Drake White released his second album The Optimystic on Friday (March 11), nearly two and a half years after he collapsed on stage due to a hemorrhagic stroke resulting in doctors telling the country singer that he may never perform again.
While the world was going through a global pandemic, White underwent multiple surgeries and learned how to walk again. “It’s been challenging to say the least,” White says of his recovery during a media session. “I’ve had to keep a good sense of humor about it because of all of the things that have come our way; the obstacles we have had to jump through. It’s been a life changing perspective shift for sure. I always was an optimistic dude, but this was the test.”
Although White has always been a natural storyteller, a self-proclaimed “troubadour,” his approach for The Optimystic was different than that on his debut album Spark. “You can’t go through a near death experience or a pandemic — unless you’re just completely oblivious — without it changing your perspective or changing your songwriting,” White explained. “I’m going to be writing music and playing music for the rest of my life, and this was the test. If I can do it through this, then it’s that much more purpose driven that this is what I’m supposed to do.”
One of the songs featured on the album, “Power of a Woman,” was released just in time for International Women’s Day and was inspired by all of the strong women in White’s life. One of those strong women is his wife, Alex, who helped teach him how to walk again and kept the household going during his recovery. “I just wanted to pay homage to that tenacity and spirit that was kind of the backbone of this world, we wouldn’t be anywhere without the power of women,” White explained. “I wrote it with Kelly Johnson and Lindsey Hinkle, and these are two really strong women that know who they are and what they want to do.”
White, along with Alex, created the Power of a Woman campaign to highlight inspirational women, some of whom are featured in the accompanying music video.
Of how the campaign came about, White credits his wife. “Alex had this idea and said, ‘we need to shine a light on these ladies’ and I was like, ‘yes ma’am, how do we do that?'”
The answer? Asking Drake’s fans on social media to share their stories. “It was emotional, we received thousands of stories… it brought us so much joy when reading these things and it gave me so much strength.”
Another song that stands out for White, personally, on The Optimystic is “Hurts the Healing,” a song written with Aaron Chafin and Allison Veltz Cruz. “‘Hurts to Healing’ sits in the middle of the record and I think line for line it is the best song I’ve ever written, as far as writing goes, it is my song and says exactly what I was feeling,” White tells Celeb Secrets Country reporter Kassidy Stewart.
“I just think [with] me and Allison Veltz Cruz and Aaron Chafin, there was some magic. Aaron started this description and said, ‘hey, I’ve got an idea’ and I was like, ‘oh great, here we go’; I wanted to write something happy because I had been through enough heartache and I was broken.'”
Adding that Aaron had commended him on his journey and wondered if all of his pain had a purpose, a phrase White says they played around with resulting in “Hurts to Healing.”
ALBUM ART COURTESY REVEREND WHITE, LLC
White is currently sharing his new music with fans on Whiskey Myers’ WHISKEY MYERS IS A COMIN’ TOUR through March 26 and will embark on the Spring leg of his headline THE OPTIMYSTIC TOUR at the end of March.
Check out The Optimystic, available now and let us know what you think of the album by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @CS_Country.
You can connect with Drake White by giving him a follow on Instagram at @drakewhitestomp.
LISTEN TO “THE OPTIMYSTIC” BELOW:
