Asher White covers Jessica Pratt's self-titled debut album, announces tour dates
Asher White has delivered a new album, but it’s not what you’d think.
Today, the artist delivered a full album cover of Jessica Pratt's 2012 self-titled debut album via Joyful Noise. The release is available on digital services right now here. A new album of original material from White is slated to be released later this year.
White said this about covering Pratt’s album:
“as far as i’m concerned Jessica Pratt’s debut is an album of American standards: every single song is a true classic, cruel and sad and terribly hopeful, unfailingly melodic and sweet, like if Elliott Smith wrote a full album of “Say Yes”s. music writers often mention the timelessness of her songs—“this could’ve been written at any point in the last 100 years”, etc—but the focus on the pastiche aspect of her music threatens to undermine the simple fact of her craft, which is awe-inspiring. on her debut record the moments of immediate melodic pop genius (“Half Twain,” “Titles Under Pressure”) are sort of Trojan horses for the songs that unfurl themselves more slowly or take a little longer to set in (“Casper”, “Midnight Wheels”).
i first found this album on the cusp of my 21st birthday, deep in the winter of 2021, and I would walk circular miles inside a bitterly cold and mostly empty Providence late into the night etching these songs deep into my brain, where they became seeds in a perpetual state of half-germination. at some point it became one of those records i’d listened to so many times that i would find myself unconsciously singing phantom harmonies alongside it, or hearing arrangements that didn’t exist; eventually the specter of these imagined arrangements became substantive enough that i decided it would be a fun exercise to try and learn the whole record to actualize my fantasies. in 2023, as a procrastination tactic while finishing New Excellent Woman, i learned the songs of Jessica Pratt (by ear and with the invaluable help of some honorable anonymous UltimateGuitar users and Youtubers) and began arranging additional instrumentation for them, starting with the ones i had the clearest ideas for. but i only had about 30% of the project finished before i got distracted by other endeavors.
just three months ago in late october 2025 before a show i found myself at dinner with some representatives from my gracious label and the extremely skillful publicist they had somehow convinced and then hired to work on my album 8 Tips. this was the first (maybe last?) instance of such a Dinner™ where i was momentarily allowed to pretend to be a Real Musician; slightly wine drunk and spurred by pre-show nerves and the desire to impress these kind and hardworking industry movers I boasted that I had covered Jessica Pratt’s first album in its entirety “many years ago” and that it was “locked and loaded, totally ready to go.” of course this was a lie but the delusion of being a worthy client was intoxicating. they reacted with surprise and told me i should send them the album ASAP; i bargained that i needed to “touch up and add some flourishes”, which effectively bought me one month to arrange, record, and mix the bulk of the album, which I proceeded to then do in a manic state of self-imposed frenzy. while i’m sure the label initially suspected some misrepresentation or hyperbole on my end, they are only learning the extent of my embarrassing, needlessly stressful farce upon me submitting this very text to them.
this is to say: my ability to hastily fashion together a working album from these songs is a testament to the music’s enduring power, its durability and pliability, its simplicity and sense of inevitability, and also just how much it has meant to me in my life. enjoy!”
White has also revealed a headlining tour along the West Coast. Tour dates can be seen below. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday (February 6) at 10 a.m. PST.
Asher White tour dates
April 28th - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Zone One
May 5th - San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe
May 7th - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
May 8th- San Luis Obispo, CA @ The Bunker
May 9th - Oakland, CA @ Eli's Mile High Club
May 12th - Portland, OR @ Swan Dive
May 13th - Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
May 15th - Santa Cruz, CA @ Smith House
Jessica Pratt by Asher White tracklisting
Night Faces
Hollywood
Bushel Hyde
Mountain'r Lower
Half Twain the Jesse
Casper
Midnight Wheels
Mother Big River
Streets of Mine
Titles Under Pressure
Dreams
Since 2009, MP3s and NPCs owner Terrance Pryor has written about music, conventions, cosplay, and video games for publications such as AXS, Examiner, Fake Walls, and Ranker. Based out of Los Angeles, the former rock concert promoter/radio host can be seen talking about rock music on AXS TV’s Music’s Greatest Mysteries and discussing music and whatever else on their Black Man Talks Rock channel on YouTube.