Northern B.C.'s hottest pop music commodity will be anchoring the entertainment stage at this year's Festival of Trees.
Jerusha White has sprinkled a few pop singles across the North American music landscape in the past two years, debuting a couple of those songs at the 2012 Festival of Trees performing on the outside stage in Canada Games Plaza, alongside acclaimed local musician Curtis Abriel and former
Michael Buble bandleader Bryant Olender.
Those were original Christmas tunes and she is launching another single this holiday season, already programmed into North American radio playlists. This is in advance of a new album, set for release this past spring, but sudden attention from Canadian super-producer Morry Stearns (a frequent collaborator with David Foster, his credits include Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, and Bryan Adams) dispatched some of the tracks back into the studio for better production value. His interest in the project has caused new interest from other music industry heavyweights so White is feeling momentum well ahead of the anticipated release of the album.
"It's been worth the delays, because the steps have all been positive, and educational," said the young singer from Fort St. James, who also has strong ties to Vanderhoof, Fort Fraser and Prince George. "One of the things I've learned from all this is the importance of staying power. Like a lot of kids who sing or play an instrument, I dreamed of getting that big hit, but having such amazing producers and musicians working with me has shown me how important it is to do things right, at a high level of quality, so if it's a hit or not a hit, it's still something people want to hear many years from now. That takes extra work and taking your time to get the elements right."
Spending more time assessing the songs also showed her which ones had that connective ability every songwriter (White writes or co-writes much of her own material) is looking for.
"When I drive, I sing. When I do dishes, I sing. I'm always singing. So when I caught myself singing my own stuff just instinctively, when I wasn't really paying attention to everything, that's when I knew which parts of a song were sticking in the mind - the parts that were coming through," she explained.
She admitted she felt too young to infuse her songs with autobiography. She writes about things in life she observes, or fictional impressions, she said. If the song is about a heart-wrenching relationship, it is most likely an extrapolation on a book's character than anything she's experienced firsthand.
Self awareness of her youth - she is not yet 21 - also came with a sense of place in the recording studio.
"It's really intimidating when you go into a room with these people who have all these skills, and the amazing names they've worked with. They've been pros for 30, 40 years some of them. They have worked with Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado and Barbara Streisand and when you hear them responding to the song you wrote, and being enthusiastic about your stuff, I'd get this giggly feeling, a big rush. It makes you want to grab that microphone and really do your best for them, because you're star-struck in a way, so you want to reward them for being so kind to you and impress them so they stay motivated."
Victoria-based singer Diane Pancel (her credits include Leanne Rimes, Matt Dusk and the TV show Vegas) has become a particular big sister-figure for White, lending her craft and mentorship to the northern up-and-comer.
The studio is one world where a new song exists, but the stage is another. The studio can be a tedious place, a sterile environment, said White, but the live performance is always a creative space.
"I get the shakes when I come off stage, because it is such a rush to be out there," she said.
She next gets that adrenaline flow on Sunday at 4 p.m. when she is in the Festival Of Trees spotlight on the Civic Centre performance stage.
She departs for Victoria following the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation fundraising event to complete the final touches on the album.
