Out Take: Eric Foster WhiteMusician/Producer/Screenwriter

Web: linkedin.com/in/ericfosterwhite

Contact: Mike Jones, mjones@shorefire.com

Most Recent: MusicClubKids

Eric Foster White credits his alma mater, the University of Miami, for drastically raising the bar for his musical standards and setting him on the path to becoming the Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer, musician and screenwriter he is today. A trombone player who once toured with Frank Sinatra, Foster White traded the horn for a career in producing and songwriting after his demo recordings led to a contract with Jive Records. He then went on to write several hit records for the likes of Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.

These days, White is working on MusicClubKids!, a YouTube musical show for kids in which White—with the permission of the original artists and songwriters—has transformed some of the day’s biggest pop hits into kid-friendly songs and narratives. The idea sprang from a car ride with his three-year-old niece. 

“Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ came on the radio, her mom clicked it off because of the lyrics, and my niece was perturbed, because she loves that song,” he says. On the spot, White came up with the idea for the more age-appropriate “I’m in Love with My Doggy”—an adaptation of Sheeran’s song.

“It’s like Weird Al-meets-KIDZ BOP,” White says. “And we don’t want to denigrate the original artists’ songs; the idea is just to introduce these pop songs to the next generation.” MusicClubKids! has just released a holiday album, which adapts OneRepublic’s “Runaway” to the new “Holidays,” and Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” into “Ask Santa.” White says that industry opportunities are actually better for aspiring songwriters today. 

“Music is less a monoculture; there are more niche markets and niche styles,” he says. “It’s still competitive, but now there are lots of other artists, maybe of lesser stature, that you can start out writing for."