Songs such as "Rebecca Lynn," "Someone Else's Star," and "I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore" catapulted the soft-spoken, baby-faced, country singer onto the radio, the top of the charts and onto the bedroom walls of teenage girls around the country.

But the feast didn't last forever. A short time later White's record label, Asylum, folded, and Bryan White started to drop off the radar. Country music's golden boy took the opportunity to put his career on the back burner and focus on life's simple things. In the meantime, the singer got married, became a father, and his wife is now pregnant with the couple's second son.

"I took three or four years off," says White during a recent telephone interview from his Nashville-area home. "I got so overwhelmed, I needed a break. I was lucky I had such success financially early on because that has sustained us for the past four years."

Recently, White decided his vacation from the music industry had gone on long enough and he is now poised to mount a comeback. A new, independent record is in the works and White plans to debut selections from that record Saturday, June 11, at the CMA Music Fest in downtown Nashville.

"This is all about getting back on the horse and digging in the spurs," says White. "I'm really excited to be putting a record out, and I've been going to Fan Fair/CMA Fest for about 12 years now. It's exciting because you get to connect with the faces that put you on the map. The fans are the backbone of country music and it's neat to meet the fans that have been around since day one and the folks that just got turned on to the music. The little kids are the most special because they're so excited to be there and you want to sit down and talk to them, but you don't have that much time."

While the singer says fans can expect to hear all their old favorites during his set, personally, he's looking forward to playing at least one new song from his upcoming record.

"I'm going to do a song called 'The Little Things,'" explains White. "The song was inspired by my wife. I wrote it after we found out we conceived our first child and it's just about all the little things she does. She'll write 'I love you' on a Post-It-Note and stick it on my steering wheel, things like that. For the longest time I couldn't even sing it live without breaking up. I'm finally over the hump and I can sing it now."

White says five years ago he would have been incapable of penning a song like "The Little Things" because he didn't have the life experience to back it up. He attributes the depth in his new material to the time off he took to reground himself as not only a person, but as a husband and a father.

"The great thing is, that it's not that I think I've become this phenomenal songwriter, but I think there's a point in everyone's life where life just happens," says the singer. "For me it was 30 and it's when you get married and you start having kids. That's when your songwriting starts to get better because you can draw from your personal life. I'm sort of in a good groove and I'm at a point where I can focus more on the music . Before I was a kid and I tried to kind of tried to choose good songs with catchy hooks. Now everything is so personal. I find myself not wanting to cut a song if I can't relate to it. I'm not focused on 'Will they play this on the radio?' but on 'Will someone be blessed by this song?'"

The singer is careful to point out his entire CD isn't just about his family. However, there's no denying White isn't a changed man since the birth of his first son 19 months ago.

"It's an amazing thing to look at this little carbon copy of you and your wife," says the new dad. "It's the neatest thing. You don't realize how selfish you are until you have a child. (Before you have kids) the first thing you usually do in the morning is sort of focus on your self. You can't do that anymore and you relate to a whole new sphere of folks. Aisle five never meant anything to you in the grocery store, but now it's like, 'Wow, that's on sale.' Now I find myself talking to other dads and it's cool. You couldn't have as much respect for parents until you became one. It's a chance to serve instead of serving your self."

Heavily influenced by life's latest blessings, White began work on his new studio project about six months ago. He hopes it will be released by the end of June. White was hoping to have the CD finished by the CMA Music Fest, but he says he got sick a couple of times over the past few months and the illnesses slowed production. When work is finished, the CD, which is yet-to-be named, will be available in stores

"It's independent," says the singer of the project. "I'm funding it all myself. I just assembled a team of people I really trust. It's all very grassroots. Since I don't have a label, I'm not feeling the immense pressure to meet their date. But that can also cause you to be lethargic, and people have to call and prod me along."

White recalls the days of his major label productions and only hopes fans respond as well to this project as they did to past records.

"The greatest thing in the world" is to be standing on stage and hear people sing your songs back to you, comments White. "To know you made an impact in that way where people know the song is amazing. When you remember where the song got started and to see it go through all these metamorphosis it's like, 'Wow, that song got started in my living room and now all these people know it.'"

Over the next week, White plans to gear up for a busy summer of nearly constant touring, with the CMA Music Fest being the first stop. From there the singer says he's looking forward to getting reacquainted with the people who first made him famous.

"Overall, it's really neat to connect with people like that," he says. "Where do you hear about that happening in any other genre? The fans are interested in the people behind the music. Country music fans know if they meet their favorite singer, chances are the entertainer is going to sit down and talk to them and be humble. This is just a great time of year where we as musicians get to show up and say 'Thank you, we appreciate your dedication.'"

Originally published June 2, 2005 in the Murfreesboro, TN Daily News Journal ~ June 5, 2005, BryanWhite.com