Sue White ha iniziato l’attività musicale giovanissima, registrando il primo LP sul finire degli anni ’60, in Portogallo dove ha tenuto i primi concerti con un repertorio basato su madrigali e canzoni folk. Prosegue l’attività di musicista anche in Inghilterra, suonando in numerosi pub e folk club, accompagnando spesso i fratelli: erano i tempi del grande folk revival britannico…
Negli anni ’70 si trasferisce in Cornovaglia e si innamora della gente e delle tradizioni locali, compresa la musica dalle folk songs ai cori per voce maschile… Dopo aver inciso "Banquet - Come to the Fair" e "Callington to Cadgwith: Cornish Harmonies" appare in molte occasioni (tv, festival, radio…) in Francia, Bretagna, Germania, Italia…
Negli anni ’80-‘90 Sue White si è dedicata alla registrazione del cd "Best of Cornish Folksongs" e al gruppo folk-rock "The Goonhillies", molto conosciuto in Cornovaglia.
Ogni anno Sue si reca a Padstow dove il primo maggio si tengono le celebrazioni  del Mayday, che coinvolgono l’intera città: il brano che trovate nella compilation allegata alla rivista “Live Padstow Mayday – May 1st 1995” testimonia proprio questo evento.
SUE WHITE   started singing when she was a young girl, and made her first recording in Portugal with a
group of girlfriends in the late 60s, an LP of folksongs which was recorded in the sound studios of Lisbon's
radio station, with help from students of Lisbon University.  Her earliest concert performances were in
Portugal, where she sang madgrigals and folk songs. When she was young she also sang and went to folk
clubs in England with her brothers, both of whom were keen amateur musicians and singers. Her brother
bought her her first guitar when she was twelve years old. She started to sing and play at the time of the
great British Folk Revival.
Sue moved to Cornwall in the 1970s and straight away fell in love with Cornwall and its people. She heard
many Cornish folk songs, sung in the pubs, in concerts by male voice choirs, by her friends at social
gatherings and parties, at "chapel suppers" (wonderful evening gatherings of Methodists where music was
made and delicious Cornish food was consumed) at local folk clubs and in festivals. Cornwall has a great
traditon of music making, from its male voice choirs and its Brass Bands, as well as its many folk clubs and
music festivals.
Sue also sang these songs at "Arthurian Medieval Banquets" from the mid 1980s -  fun evenings on the loose
theme of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, set in Tintagel, in North Cornwall. Cornish music
was at the heart of these entertainments.  Her cassette recording "Banquet - Come to the Fair" was
recorded with singers and musicians from these Medieval Banquets.  Sue also recorded a cassette of
acapella singing with two Cornish girlfriends - "Callington to Cadgwith: Cornish Harmonies", which is very
beautifully crafted and simply presented. She has performed with these two friends, Rachel and Esther, on
many occasions in Cornwall, and also represented Cornwall in Britanny, France.  Sue has appeared on
French TV singing and playing Cornish songs. From the early 1990s Sue has made many tours of Germany,
singing in concerts and other venues, always filling her mixed programme with a large number of Cornish
Folksongs.
Sue started to learn and sing  these Cornish songs, and made her first recordings of them in the 1980s. The
first CD "Best of Cornish Folksongs" was recorded in the early 1990s - a collaboration of music making with
Sue and some of her musician friends on fiddle, banjo, accordian, acoustic guitar and percussion.  With her
friends she still plays and sings as the folk/rock band "The Goonhillies".  This album has been most popular in
Cornwall and is often played on the local BBC Radio Station.  In 1994 these musicians with Sue played live
at the Royal Cornwall Show, and the programme was broadcast nationally on BBC Radio 2 that Christmas.
Every year on May 1st Sue goes to Padstow in Cornwall to join in the Mayday celebrations with the local
people there. The whole town is taken up with celebration, and at the heart of this is Padstow's own
MaySong, which is on the first and last tracks of her CD "Padstow Mayday and Other Cornish Folksongs".
The celebrations start with singing the night before the 1st May, from late in the evening until almost sunrise
the following day. This song is called the "Night Song" and the singers call out to people in their houses,
wishing them good luck for the whole year, and seeking for money (traditionally they would be given money,
but now they are given something to eat and to drink - usually alcoholic!) with special words "you have a
shilling in your purse and I wish it were in mine, in the Merry Mornng of May".  The singers call to each
householder by their name. It is a tradition of great antiquity and continuity.  It gives the people of Padstow a
real sense of belonging to a community together. It is very beautiful. The singing in the night song is
unaccompanied. It is the last track on Sue's CD.
The following day starts in Padstow with the whole town decorated with greenery and flowers taken from
the meadows and woods nearby. Then the dancing starts and the music begins very early in the
morning. First of all with the children's dances, and their little 'Oss - a strange representation of perhaps a
real horse, or perhaps something else, but signifying rebirth and the coming of summer.  The main 'Oss -
shown on the cover of Sue White's  CD (there are two now in Padstow, a  Blue 'Oss and a Red 'Oss or Old
'Oss) comes out to huge cheering and celebration in the mid morning, and the fantastic singing and dancing
that accompanies their dance goes on all day and right into the dead of night. The essence of the music is the
drum beat and the playing of accordians. There are no other instruments. All the people of Padstow dress in
white clothes with ribbons, either red or blue, to show which 'Oss they follow. They sing and  dance a special
dance around the 'Oss, which whirls round and round until it gets tired and sinks to the ground, when another
person has to go inside and have his turn as the 'Oss. Words really cannot describe how joyous and magical
this day is. You have to come to Padstow to experience it, and once you have, you will never forget it.
Sue came to Padstow for many many years and then decided to sing its song and record it, because it had
not been available for people outside the town to hear - and many people from Cornwall have now moved
away and would like to hear its song where they now live. People come from as far afield as America and
Australia, as well as all over Great Britain. Sue never sings the song except on May 1st, because that would
be disrespectful to the people who were born and bred in Padstow. They jealously guard their town and its
customs.  Her close feeling with the town started when she first moved to Cornwall, because she was born
on May 1st, and know that this day, of all days, has a very special meaning far beyond being her birthday. It
is a truly special day, and the people of Padstow know and unlock its secret and share it with townspeople
and visitors alike every May 1st.  "Oggy, Oggy, Oggy - 'Oss oss - Wee 'oss".  Sue's daughter, Jenny, who
was born in Cornwall, now lives in Padstow, and has made it her home. You could live in no better place than
Cornwall, and no better part of Cornwall than Padstow.