When we lived in the same city, Dominican priest Father Thomas Joseph White would consistently, lovingly give me a hard time for always being found in the back of a church or lecture hall. I always presumed that’s because he longed to be introverting too, but of course before long he would be back on the altar or lectern. So it didn’t surprise me when, backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, he began telling me that, though he was going along for the Hillbilly Thomists’ summer “Old Highway Tour,” he really enjoys the writing more. When not playing banjo in Nashville, Father White, as it happens, is the rector of the Angelicum in Rome; the school’s most famous alum is Pope John Paul II. His latest book is an authoritative study of the Holy Trinity, no small mystery. So again, it’s not a surprising response from an intellectual. But when he said “The guys like the touring,” I couldn’t help but counter, “But you think it’s really cool you are playing the Opry tonight.” He smiled. Of course.
Father White was one of the original Hillbilly Thomists, a band which came about as he would bring his banjo out at the Dominican House of Studies over the years, just for fun, and for events. Slowly, friars who had professional music backgrounds joined and they got serious. They even hit the Billboard charts.
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