James White & The Wild Fire
James White & The Wild Fire return with an emotionally charged interview exploring heartbreak, recovery, and creative evolution behind their new EP, revealing how personal struggle shaped their most powerful work yet.
1. “Bonfire” was written in under thirty minutes after a sudden breakup—how did that raw immediacy shape both the songwriting and the final recording?
Initially, it was one of the most natural songwriting flows I have ever had. The formation of the blueprint of the song came from a place of rage that stemmed from an immense sense of betrayal and hurt. My whole world had been ripped out from under me. The lyrics just came and with it the general flow of how the lyrics would sit. Considering most of our songs are fast paced bluegrass style songs, the guitar for Bonfire is just three chords, so the basis of the whole song was just immediately there. In the studio, and I can’t say how much of a dream it is to work with Tim Bond at Bookmatch Recording Studio, we laid down the basics. From there it was a case of pulling in each member of the band one by one to expand on the harmonies that Joe, Lee and Brooke nailed, Mike’s violin really took it to another level, and then trying to get the two guitar solos right! Everyone really played their part.
2. After nearly three years away, what drove the decision to return now, and how did that hiatus influence the sound and perspective of this new chapter?
I genuinely never expected we would be gone so long… but times change. Some of us had got married, extended their families, changed jobs, moved house. All his grown up stuff that doesn’t impede so much when we were a bit younger! And there are no hard feelings there, but naturally it gets harder to get back to where we were when we started out back when we played our first show in 2020 and then the run we went on between 2021 and 2023. One of the biggest issues though was in the last couple of years we were playing I was nursing an injury that never resolved following breaking my wrist back in September 2021, I really felt I needed that sorted to be able to play without pain and without my wrist dislocating – especially when you are playing 160 beats per minute bluegrass influenced songs. So eventually I got that re-broken, pinned and sorted in September 2025, it genuinely took four years! But to make matters worse, around Summer 2023 I started getting odd symptoms… it turns out I have an autoimmune condition called psoriatic arthritis. I have spent the last two years trying to get that sorted and no treatment has worked as of yet, and at this point who knows if I can ever play guitar the way I did even as recently as December last year! With the EP being done, and with no end in sight for my autoimmune condition being adequately treated, I just made the decision to pull the trigger and get it out there. I just hope it is well received when it comes out. Whilst typing this our EP is currently sitting at Number 3 in the Amazon Country Album Chart in the UK behind Kacey Musgraves who released her album on Friday, and Number 7 in the Rock one, so it looks like it was a good decision to release the EP in the near future. And by the way, I love Kacey Musgraves. Slow Burn was one of my anthems a few years back!
Going to your second point, the sound on the EP is a natural progression from where we left off in October 2023, Bonfire is the anomaly with it being more Americana Rock, but the rest are much more Psychedelic Newgrass, so for those who may well be a bit baffled at Bonfire can hopefully rest easy. I guess people will find that out when we release our second single off the EP on the 29th May, that one is my favourite off the EP and is called The Ballad of Jimmy Blanco. Funnily enough the EP track listing almost goes from newest to oldest in terms of when it was written. Bonfire was the oldest and that is the ending track! I wrote the tracks over a tumultuous couple of years and most of the tracks reflect that dark place I was in, although The Ballad of Jimmy Blanco is maybe a bit more up-lifting and is a “pick yourself up, James” song that I penned. Almost a “what would you say to a mate who is in your position” kind of thing. So I wouldn’t say the hiatus itself influenced the sound, more my own personal struggles. What elevated the EP to the next level was Mike Furse-Phillips joining on violin and Joe Bailey bringing his marching rhythm guitar and incredible harmonies. We were working on this EP secretly as early as 2023!
3. The upcoming EP How To Replace Anxiety With A Broken Heart explores emotional upheaval—was there a conscious narrative arc you wanted listeners to follow from start to finish?
Great question! So the intro track is a psychedelic, almost Fallout radio-style news reading that covers the topics of the EP, but the other four are full-blooded songs that drive the narrative and theme, but not chronologically. It is all about suffering, trying to pull yourself up from a pit of despair, the raw emotions you feel from being in such a bad place and the influence of being around the wrong people and the bad decisions you… well, I made along the way. It was why we picked Lysander Hayes by Sideline to be on the track, it just fitted so well. Our biggest thanks to the wonderful Milan Miller and Beth Husband for giving us permission to cover that! There is a whole other story around that I have no doubts will come out in the coming weeks.
4. Your music blends psychedelic folk textures with bluegrass and Americana roots—how did you approach expanding that sonic palette on this release without losing your core identity?
I guess because the songwriting itself came from raw emotions I didn’t really think so much on that. But when you go back and listen back to our last recording, a cover of the traditional bluegrass song Little Maggie, you can see this as a natural development – again, albeit with Bonfire which is maybe a bit more of a throwback to my older music when I was throwing out songs like Citizen of Nowhere. I personally believe that this is just an artistic progression. I know all artists say this, but with this lineup and with this EP, this is easily the best musical project I have been a part of! Brooke, Lee, Joe and Mike really are just phenomenal musicians.
5. The music video for “Bonfire,” directed by Adam Docker, mirrors the song’s emotional escalation—how important is visual storytelling in expressing the themes behind your music?
You know, I just left it to Adam for the most part. That guy is an absolute genius, and I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am to have been able to work with someone of his calibre. I could spend the rest of my life saying how thankful I am and it still wouldn’t feel like I am thanking him enough! I despise listening to myself and watching myself in stuff like this, so the fact that even I like it says a lot! It really is such a cool video. This is the first real music video we have done, and it was such a shame we couldn’t get the whole band around to be in the video, but without the video I don’t believe Bonfire would have impacted half as much as it has. It certainly made it a better comeback as we aren’t playing any shows, the big fear I had was that no one would care we were back. If anyone likes his video, you would love his book.
6. You’ve hinted that this EP could be your final body of work—does that sense of closure change the way you approached writing, recording, and presenting these songs?
I am so, so, so far away from having closure. When I was writing this EP I had no idea this could be my last, apart from when we were finishing Lysander Hayes earlier this year. I still hold hope that I can return to play. I am still seeing rheumatologists, I have been trying homeopathy and I am now seeing a functional doctor. Incredibly, I am in the best shape of my life otherwise. So there won’t be any closure until the door shuts and then probably a long, long time after that. Maybe there won’t ever be. It feels like a piece of the jigsaw that makes the picture of James White is missing a large section without being able to play music. Ultimately, I just hope the EP is well received and that the wonderful people who made it get the respect they so deserve.