Song Premiere: Jim White vs The Packway Handle Band, “Not A Song”

Jim White‘s done quite a bit in life. Before he began writing Southern Gothic-tinged alt-country tunes, he attended film school and worked as everything from a cab driver to a professional surfer. He’s had visual art displayed in a variety of exhibits, and starred in a BBC-commissioned documentary about the American South.

The California-born polymath’s latest venture is a collaboration with The Packway Handle Band, an acclaimed and energetic bluegrass quintet from Athens, Ga. The two decided to team up after White tapped them to play on a Skipperdees album he produced in 2013. The result is Take It Like A Man, an album that alternates between White and Packway-penned songs.

The first single, “Not A Song,” is a Packway-penned tune with dark words contrasted against joyous melodies. White’s young daughter took to it immediately.

“I always wanted a song that my kids would happily sing along with,” he says. “That was a fine moment.”

Take It Like A Man arrives January 27 via Yep Roc Records.