White's career actually began a decade earlier with a 1985 EP on Stiff Records called Religious Persuasion. A move to the London label yielded his debut full-length, 1986's Rave On, a political protest album in the vein of Bob Dylan that addressed problems in Ireland and his native Belfast. After 1988's Kiss the Big Stone, he parted ways with London, recording first for Cooking Vinyl (1990's Himself), then inking a deal with Warner to deliver 1992's Out There and 1994's Destination Beautiful. In the wake of ALT's 1995 album and tour and the recognition it brought White, Cooking Vinyl released his sixth LP, Teenage, in the U.S. Following a 1998 "best-of" compilation, the hard-working artist continued his prolific run, issuing a live LP via Peter Gabriel's WOMAD Select label and then signing with U.K. indie Floating World, where he stayed throughout the new millennium, delivering albums like Boy 40, Garageband, and Songwriter. He has also published two collections of poetry and a book of prose called 21st Century Troubadour, the latter of which was accompanied by an album of unreleased material of the same name in 2012. A collaboration with Canadian folksinger Stephen Fearing yielded a 2011 album called Fearing & White and a 2014 set called Tea & Confidences. In 2016, White celebrated his first three decades of recording with a new album, Imaginary Lovers, and a career-spanning box set called Studio Albums 1986-2016. ~ Timothy Monger & Steve Huey