By Lisa Ruefenacht
He plays guitar with the old, weathered wisdom of Neil Young or Bob Dylan. His voice combines the melodic sweetness of Sebadoh''s Lou Barlow and the gruff masculinity of Kurt Cobain. His songs rival the emotional depth of Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley. He even lives in a log cabin.
And he''s only 19.
In fact, the four members of The John Whites (Jenny Guerra on bass, Ben Alvarez on drums, Josh Brown on guitar, and John White on guitar and vocals, all from Utah Valley) are pretty young, considering their musical precocity and cohesiveness as a band.
'It''s pretty incredible, the stuff writes in the songs. I''m really satisfied with everything he writes in the songs, same with Ben and Jenny. Jen and Benny,' singer and guitarist John White said fondly.
They may be called The John Whites, but each band member is a vital organ to the bigger machine. The John Whites introduce new life and personality, new sound and new meaning into each song. They charter refreshing, inimitable paths into emotions hashed to death long ago. Sadness is sadness, but The John Whites have an incarnation all their own.
'We all keep on our toes, play differently stylistically because of our different influences. ... Josh, Ben and Jenny all brought things to the songs I never even thought of, things I couldn''t have thought of. It is a real band despite the name. It wouldn''t be the same without any one of us,' White said.
White didn''t begin writing music until November 2003, after he saw Beck and The Flaming Lips in Salt Lake City. That one show served as a prolific, life-altering experience that exposed White to a plethora of musical inspiration and composition, and spurred his dislike for the 'one album wonder' bands prevalent in today''s indie scene.
'...Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and The Arcade Fire, all that sounds good for a month. There''s stuff as good from forever ago that people talk about,' White said. 'There''s never been a Jeff Tweedy or a Wayne Coyne ever in the history of music. ... I hope to make good music, that sounds good for more than a month.'
Since that show, White has recorded numerous EPs and a full-length album; however, it wasn''t until January 2006 that The John Whites took form. Brown and Alvarez, former members of Don Juan Triumphant, approached White with the idea of forming a full band for his music after Don Juan Triumphant broke up. White, who was already playing with Guerra at the time, was happy to oblige.
'Josh takes care of my inability to play guitar,' White said half-seriously. 'He is the best guitarist in Provo.'
Their musical and visual stylistic differences are the paradox of the band. The hipster vibes from Alvarez and Brown, who are most influenced by The Strokes and 1960s musical revolutionists like The Velvet Underground, at first glance don''t fit with Guerra''s nymphish, contradictory and almost confusing amalgamation with the bass-she''s only slightly taller than it. Add White''s disposition toward neo-psychedelics The Flaming Lips and Super Furry Animals, and the button seems too big for the buttonhole. Yet they do fit, and well.
'Someone came up to me at one of our shows and said, ''Your music is so thick you could reach out and grab it,''' Brown said.
In a scene where theatrics and costumes are coming of age, The John Whites are one band that will never need anything but their instruments. They''re like the Modest Mouse of Provo-unique yet palatable.
'As long as you don''t say Coldplay or The Killers, we''re cool,' White said.
The John Whites open for Palomino Saturday at Velour, 135 N. University Ave. in Provo. For more information on the band, visit thejohnwhites.com or myspace.com/thejohnwhites.
(For comments, e-mail Lisa Ruefenacht at lisaruef@gmail.com.)