They say variety is the spice of life. If that's true, Michael Tracey White's life is a rather spicy one, as a musician, at least. The 33-year-old Eastern-Shore native, perhaps known best as the drummer and front man for the swing band Michael and the Little Professors, has branched out and these days is just as likely to perform solo or with saxophone player Joe Smooth as with his band. That's in addition to his other recent pursuits: producing albums for other local musicians and expanding his successful single "Cold Day in Daytona," a tribute to NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., into a full-length album that he said "is what we jokingly call 'Michael Tracey White's greatest hits.'" White had quite a few songs to choose from in putting the album together. When working as a solo artist, his repertoire includes 300 to 400 songs, ready for requests from his audiences. But most of what he selected was from his 1996 solo project, titled "Drawing Pictures in the Sand," as well as Michael and the Little Professors' 1998 album, "Time to Swing." He also included "an unreleased track or two." The expanded album seemed like an appropriate next step, as the single "Cold Day in Daytona" has garnered White a good bit of press, a lot of attention from NASCAR fans and 13 weeks on the Top 40 charts of independent country music worldwide. Yes, country music. Despite his inclinations toward swing and rockabilly in most of his work - "I don't consider myself a country writer" - White felt the country genre was the best way to make sure the Earnhardt tribute song appealed to as many people as possible. It seems to have worked. The single has played on more than 300 independent country stations, and of the 13 weeks on those independent country charts, White's single spent three weeks at No. 8. To date, the single and the new album have sold enough copies that White doesn't know exactly how many have been sold. He believes the number is over 12,000, but, he said, "We sell them as fast as we produce them." And while the sales and the attention please the veteran musician, he takes care to point out a few things: a "generous amount, as much as we possibly can," from the sales of the CDs goes to charity, inspired by the charitable contributions that Earnhardt made throughout his life; and, he said, he owes "it all to the fans. ... I realize how lucky I am." White knows a few things about fans. "Cold Day in Daytona" was inspired by his own lifelong appreciation of NASCAR in general and Dale Earnhardt Sr. in particular, having gone to NASCAR races in Dover since he was "a little kid." He watched a lot of television on the day Earnhardt was killed, he said, and saw that "it affected such a mass number of NASCAR fans. Even people who weren't Earnhardt fans were feeling the pain of this tragedy. And I just wanted to put something to music, put something out there for the fans." And he's developed enough of a following of his own in the resort area that he can perform live three or four nights - sometimes more - each week at a variety of local venues and always draw a crowd. "I've got a good following," White said, with a hint of modesty. He has two Web sites to help him reach that following: www.michaeltraceywhite.com and www.daleearnhardtnet.com (specifically for the Earnhardt tribute). At either site, fans can find White's cover song list, check his upcoming performance dates or purchase any of his CDs, videos, stickers or posters. White pointed out that his biggest fan draw is Michael and the Little Professors' regular Thursday-night performances at the Bay Café in Fenwick Island, Del. "The band has built up a real nice following, probably because of the unique aspect of the show. Nobody around here is doing that kind of music. There are some people that play jazz and some swing, but nobody does it at the energy level we do. And it's a broad audience, too. There are younger people, retired people. We can do the same show at the Bay Café and on a college campus and it goes over equally well." The renewed interest of the last few years in artists like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett is a good indication of one of the things that draws White and his fans to the swing and rockabilly genres. "It just won't go away. And I love a lot of new music. But it just seems that the songs written by the Duke Ellingtons, the Louis Armstrongs, the George Gershwins, Cole Porters, they just don't go away. There's a constant revival of interest. So much so that people like me keep going back and re-recording them because they're not writing songs like that anymore. At least I can't write them. I can write you rock and pop songs. But stuff like that is hard to improve on." As far as his childhood influences, White includes in that list the Beatles, Paul McCartney as a solo artist (and the subject of a tribute song on his new CD) and the rockabilly artists of the '50s. "My parents always had good swing and jazz playing in the house," White added. He started playing the drums at 7, and became a professional jazz drummer at 13, when he was given his first gig by Eastern Shore jazz legend Chris Pinter. White said he wouldn't be where he is today without Pinter's help, and that he has remained in touch with the now-retired musician. White later picked up guitar on his own, along with songwriting. He received some vocal training ("classical vocal training") while working on a journalism degree at Salisbury State University (now Salisbury University), putting himself through college playing gigs. "I've never had a day job," White said. By then, his musical style had expanded from jazz to swing and rockabilly. "I always considered rockabilly swing's first cousin," White said. And they're kissing cousins with Michael and the Little Professors. "You can call us a swing band that plays rockabilly or a rockabilly band that playsswing," White said. "As a songwriter, my main influences would have to be Marshall Crenshaw, hugely influenced by him. And I don't think any rock or pop songwriter can say they haven't been influenced by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys." With all of the attention garnered by Michael and the Little Professors, interestingly, White's own favorite venue is probably the one that places him a little more out of the spotlight than the rest of his regular performances. "I'm just your humble host," he said of open mic night at Ryan's Café in Ocean View, Del., a job that lets him perform solo most of the night, but also leaves him free to sit in on bass, guitar or drums with other local musicians. It also gives him a good venue for interacting with his audience, which is perhaps his favorite thing about performing. He points out the difference between his act and that of many other swing performers: he tries to keep the energy high, both with the music and in friendly banter with his fellow musicians and the audience. That tone also shows up in his performances with Joe Smooth, a show White describes as "a different animal. A lot of people would look at it and at first glance think, 'Oh, that's just his solo act with a saxophone player and some backing vocals thrown in.' But it includes comedy and a lot of interaction with the audience." "The funny thing is they're all three so different, I don't really have a favorite. I like them all because they keep my career so interesting, changing all the time," White said. "I've been branching out as a producer, too," he added. "That's fun. That's a lot of fun." "Doing Kevin Poole's CD was my first experience at doing a full-length album with somebody else's name on it. I've done it before for myself. But it makes you really cautious about the decisions you make in the studio when you know somebody else's name is on the line." White has a few other producing projects in the wings for the off-season,"a few local guys like me who have contacted me for one reason or another, probably just because the musical community on Delmarva is getting so close-knit. Everybody's starting to look out for each other and say 'Why don't you help me out with this, and I'll help you out with that,' and that's when you're getting a good, strong musical community, a good core of local musicians," he said. White is proud of his local roots, noting that he was born and raised in the area, that both "Drawing Pictures in the Sand" and "Time to Swing" were recorded at Seagull Studio in Salisbury, and praising the wonders of living near the beach and having the varying audiences to play for year-round. And Michael and the Little Professors are expanding their performances into the Baltimore and Washington areas, as well, including college campuses. They also plan to add New York City to their winter tour schedule. "We're real excited about that. I think that's where a swing band should be playing. That's a real swinging town. It's where a lot of that style of music was founded," White said. But the band will be spending a good portion of the fall and winter working on a new album. White is constantly writing new songs, with a goal of working on writing every day and producing one song a week. So it makes sense that the new album is going to be a two-disc set, though most of the songs will still be covers with a swing and jazz feel, because, as White said, "The people who created this music, the Ellingtons and Armstrongs, it's just so hard to improve on that. There are so many great songs out there to record." Of course, the expanded touring schedule and album are in addition to White's producing projects, his performances with the band at the Bay Café and Cap't Bob's, his performances with Joe Smooth at Caribbean Bar & Grill, his solo performances at Ryan's Café and playing the "humble host" at open mic night. White has plenty on his plate, but it's served up with a hefty measure of the spice of life.