Whitley’s latest release, Rocket House, is his first proper studio album in five years. His previous project, Perfect Day, was recorded with two microphones in a barn.

Rocket House – his seventh release – marks Whitley’s debut on ATO Records, which Dave Matthews founded.

Oddly enough, it was in Belgium that Whitley received his first taste of popularity – playing dance music, of all things. A true roots rocker, he tired of fame under music that wasn’t “him,” so he returned to the States.

Dancing between the music industry’s category lines, Whitley describes his music as being, “Just psychosexual, socio-spiritual love songs that hope to [mess] with the stereotypes.”

A longtime road dog, Whitley’s genre-defying style is evident in the artists he’s toured with; they include Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Alanis Morissette, Blues Traveler, Jonny Lang, and Toad the Wet Sprocket.