Drake White Takes His Music to the Sky for Surprise In-Flight Concert

David McClendon of Littleton, Colorado boarded a Southwest jet Monday morning in Dallas, Texas. Upon taking his seat, he felt that things were a little different from the usual procedure of a simple fly-away.

“I noticed that there were a lot of pictures being taken, and everyone seemed to know each other,” McClendon told Sounds Like Nashville. “I started asking questions, and was told I was getting a surprise and nothing more. It was a lot of fun.”

That ‘surprise’ was a live in-flight performance from Dot recording artist Drake White, as part of Southwest’s Live at 35 series. The singer, who performed several songs from his Spark album, said it was an experience that he won’t soon forget.

“It felt good. There were a lot of people that were surprised about it,” he shared. “I think that music lives in that spontaneity and that quickness of getting out there and doing your thing. At the end of the day, I just want to make people have a good day, and a good experience, I think that was one.”

Of course, one of the biggest obstacles for the energetic performer was that space was very much limited. “It was challenging,” he admitted. “I’m glad I stretched this morning, and got my little workout in. It’s definitely tight quarters, for sure.”

There were other differences in playing live at 35,000 feet. “Obviously, there’s not a lot of acoustics on there. It’s more of a nostalgic thing. People’s ears are just now getting acclimated to being up in that space. It’s more of a wow factor that somebody is actually trying to put this on and get it done. I think it sounded pretty good.”

The flight to Nashville was part one of a busy week, with Friday’s performance at the Country Radio Seminar’s New Faces Show also being a highlight, for the singer, who said he relishes the blessing of a busy schedule. “You have to be a chameleon. I used to think ‘If I only had a chance to be that busy.’ My buddies would be flying all over the world playing, and they would always talk about being slammed. I would think ‘There’s no way they are that slammed.’ But, you do get busy. This week is a very busy one.”

Monday night, White played a private performance for radio contest winners at the historic Ryman Auditorium. “Anytime you get to play that stage, it’s an absolute honor. I’m going to get to play solo acoustic. That’s a very huge deal.”

The performance was also sponsored by Live In The Vineyard, a concert series that White is a huge fan of. “This was the brainchild of a couple of ladies. They love wine, and they love the landscape of Napa. They started bringing music into the vineyards, and for all the people who like partaking of the wine, music goes with that. They just made this concept, and it’s an amazing experience. You talk about being laid-back. It was something I’ll never forget. I love the landscape out there, as well as the geography.”

The musical experience – likely over Arkansas – was one that passenger McClendon won’t soon forget. “It was like winning the lottery,” he beamed. “It was an awesome experience. I’d never seen anything like this before. It was nice and relaxing, and made the flight go by faster.” After the performance, he lamented that he didn’t request “Freebird.”

White, an Alabama native, says he has done that song before – for a very special crowd. “I played ‘Freebird’ with a ukulele in front of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the bus to start their cruise. I’ve only done it that once, but it was something, for sure.”