Here’s a song with a double meaning, at the least – ‘After So Long‘ is a heartbroken break-up song which finds Gus White coming to terms with the finality of the split. It’s been a while, he’s reflecting on his feelings after so long. And it was a split that came after so long a relationship. And it’s the thoughts that come after the final goodbyes – or so longs perhaps – have been said. It’s the song which caps his new release, “For Now, Anyway“, which will be out on November 14th. It’s a song that’s important to Gus White, and he tells the story of paying it live at a gig last year and: “an audience member kindly recorded the entire set on their phone and, during our performance of ‘After So Long’, you can hear someone sobbing faintly in the background. It really knocked me for six. For the first time in my life, I realised that I had true supporters, that there was a genuine need for my music.”
And who is Gus White? He’s a Wiltshire-based folk musician, record producer, festival organiser, and community maker with a deep love for the rooted and the heartfelt. His production credits are the string that ties together an emerging scene that refers to itself as “third-wave folk”, involving artists from Wiltshire, London, and beyond, all of whom record with Gus. This includes microtonal and genre-fluid rising-star Maddie Ashman (producing recent single ‘Toffee’ and her Bandcamp-breaking otherworld EP), folk singer Minna, and UK Folk-charting artist Ann Liu Cannon. White is also a member of UK folk band Dead Pages, and co-organiser of Late Spring Folk Festival, which celebrated its third iteration this summer.
