Drake White – The OPTIMYSTIC Tour

*Please note this show has been moved to the Indoor Stage due to inclement weather*

Drake White (with special guest Josh Kiser) will be performing LIVE on the Indoor Stage at Salvage Station on Thursday, October 28th! Doors open at 5pm and the music starts at 7pm. Check out our FAQ page here to learn about parking options, what you can and cannot bring inside the venue, and MORE!

Root Down will be serving their delicious twist on Southern Soul food PLUS, there will be MULTIPLE full bars open all around the venue to satisfy your beverage needs! 

Please review our Covid-19 policy here: https://salvagestation.com/covid-policy/

CDC guidelines + band requirements + our own personal policies are changing daily, so please keep your eyes on our website for updates.  As always, thank you for supporting live music and for your cooperation as we navigate this challenging time together!

Join the Wednesday Night Therapy VIP Experience (on Thursday, October 28th) including a pre-show performance, Q&A, and Meet & Greet with Drake White! VIP packages are available here: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/drake-white-the-salvage-station-indoor-tickets/11219915

Listen to Drake White:

About Drake White:

Seeing Drake White live is far from an ordinary concert experience. Equal parts
warrior leader, holy-fire reverend, and gypsy Appalachian mountain man, he
fronts his band with a mix of Muscle Shoals groove and honky-tonk grease. The
goal? To continue building an inspired community with his voice, country-soul
spirit, and relentless optimism, fusing everything he does — from the shows he
plays with The Big Fire (his blue-collar band of road warriors), to the events he
hosts at Whitewood Hollow, the rustic event space he hand-designed with his
wife, Alex, in rural Tennessee — with the big-tent spirit of a revival.
“There’s a Huckleberry Finn-type freedom to everything we do,” Drake says in his
rich Alabama drawl. “Whether I’m onstage, in the recording studio, or outdoors,
it’s all about absorbing inspiration and giving it back. Alex and I are builders.
We’re weaving that spirit into our mission of building community, building culture,
living good lives, and serving people — whether that means serving our maker or
our audience or our guests at Whitewood Hollow.”

From his childhood days singing with the First Baptist Church youth choir in
Alabama to his emergence as one of country music’s most acclaimed innovators
— with four Top 40 hits, multiple nationwide tours, and a dedicated cult following
all under his belt — Drake has happily blurred the boundaries between music
and every other moment of his life. After all, music doesn’t begin or end when
he’s onstage or in the studio. It’s informed by everything he does, whether he’s
paddling a river, building a barn, starting a fire, or spending time with his wife. A
lover of nature and a boundless traveler, he’s as happy camping in Montana as
he is tilling the earth at his home in Tennessee. All of it helps fuel his larger
mission to be present and to live fully in the moment.
That mission has been strengthened not only by Drake’s milestones, but also his
setbacks. Halfway through a show in August 2019, he collapsed onstage, the
result of a hemorrhagic stroke caused by a life-threatening tangle of arteries and
veins in his brain. Shows were cancelled and plans put on hold as Drake
underwent months of intensive physiotherapy — as well as a series of operations
— to repair his Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM). Step by step, he regained the
use of his left side. Throughout it all, Drake reminded himself to make the
absolute most of every waking moment, both onstage and off.
“There was a revival in my heart and my soul,” he says of his recovery. “I felt an
overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude towards my maker, my life, and the
simple things. A paradigm shift happened. I stopped worrying about the things I
couldn’t control. I kept writing music and running with that Huckleberry Finn
mentality I’ve always had. I kept on swimming, kept on rafting, and kept on
rocking. People are going to hear that in my new music. They’re going to see it in
my shows. The excitement never left me; it’s just greater now. I walk onstage
these days and feel so thankful to be there — to be able to do what I love to do.”
That sense of gratitude is also evident in Whitewood Hollow, the rustic event
space that Drake and Alex White built in an oak-covered, hand-designed barn.
Tucked into the Tennessee hills outside of Nashville, the space officially opened
its doors in February 2020, marking the culmination of a six-year dream that
began as a pencil-sketched drawing on a napkin. Whitewood Hollow is more than
just an event space; it’s also an opportunity for Drake and Alex (an artisan chef,
event planner, and pioneering businesswoman in the vein of Rachel Ray) to
formally unite their creative forces. Furthermore, the barn represents another
chance for Drake to continue his life’s mission of encouraging community and
serving others.

“It’s a culture thing; it’s what I grew up with,” he says of Whitewood Hollow’s
rootsy charm and service-oriented purpose. “I grew up with lots of barns. It
represents hard work. It represents comfort for me. I’ve had some of the greatest
moments of my life in a barn.” In Whitewood Hollow, he’s co-created the sort of
place where people from all walks of life can come together, break bread, enjoy
each other’s company, and share their stories.

All of it, however, leads back to playing music. The grandson of a preacher,
Drake grew up in the Baptist church, watching his grandfather bring the
congregation together during every service. Years later, he plays a similar role as
the frontman of Drake White and The Big Fire, leading his band and his audience
toward a shared sense of rafter-shaking rapture. It’s a mutual revival for
everybody involved.

“Music is my true love,” he says. “Even when I lost the use of my left hand, I
never stopped writing and making new music. Now I have a catalog slammed full
of new songs that my fans need to hear, and I’m excited to watch these seeds
that I’ve planted start to bear fruit. My fans are my army, and I’m built to serve
them. When they come to my show, that’s what I am: I’m a servant to the people
who came here to have an experience.”