Before he had a stage, Jason White had a living room and a voice too big to keep quiet. Born in Louisiana and raised on classic country, he grew up singing along to the songs that built the genre — and somewhere along the way, he realized he had his own to write.

He's since shared stages with Bryan Martin, Travis Denning, Sister Hazel, and other national touring acts, and delivered what may be his most defining performance in the arena at Cheyenne Frontier Days — an American institution for more than 120 years — singing the National Anthem in honor of his late sister Cheyenne, who was named after the rodeo and the town. For Jason, country music has never been a genre. It's been a language.