Music has always had a hold on me. It’s been told to me that when I was a baby, it was music that made me smile. I remember all the cartoons and T.V. of the early 1970s, many of which had the characters also in bands; anybody remember the Banana Splits, the Partridge Family and the Monkees? My first records I got as a child reflected the bubble gum music of the day, until I started to explore my parent’s record collection and discovered Burt Bacharach. I must have sung “rain drops keep falling on my head” to myself a thousand times. One day my Mother said “I think you will like these”, and handed me “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Tommy.” I don’t remember giving my parents much time to listen to those records after that. I do remember, however, listening to those albums over and over, hour after hour. I think that the quadrant of Bacharach, Lennon and McCartney and Townsend, clearly sunk into my musicality, even before I had the capacity for musical expression and songwriting.

My first attempt at playing a musical instrument was trombone, ‘cause I had to pick something for school band. That lasted as long as you can say “spit valve”: Wasn’t my calling. Next, I played drums for a year and what it gave me was a sense of rhythm. This time, however I was starting to jump ahead musically and wanted to stay with something in the rock arena and the guitar seemed to be it. Yet, the vibe of what was going on in the early 1970’s wasn’t getting me motivated as a young guitarist. Early Genesis and the prog rock of the day had cool songs and arrangements but the guitar work didn’t speak to the “rock” in me. Zappa was cool but at age 10 playing guitar like that seemed like “whoa this ain’t happening here” and actually was intimidating. The Grateful Dead, the Doors and the like I found utterly uninspiring and boring. Yet, I know something had to be out there.

It was after years of AM radio I made the jump to FM and in 1977 the radio was on and walked into the kitchen to hear Robin Zander sing “I want you to want me.” Bun E’s drums kicked in and then Rick Neilson’s guitar…I actually froze. My gut told me here is the rock you’ve been looking for! Here was music that had the melodic sense of my early musical quadrant but now with loud big guitars. Wow! I think I’ve been juggling these variables ever since: the killer song and the big guitar.

I branched out as a songwriter with Warren Zevon and Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. I started to find that the better the technique I had as a guitar player would allow me to express myself better as a writer so I started learning scales and getting into Rory Gallagher and the second wave of British heavy metal, Michael Schenker, and the Maidens (Smith & Murray).

Two musical tracks: The Writer and The Guitarist. I’ve been building on these influences ever since, going on to discover other musical gems such as Richard Thompson and Jason and the Scorchers where I learned to move the blending of my song writing and guitar playing away from a metal blues framework into a more hybrid approach where the elements of country music and cowboy songs that I was starting to write seemed cooler.

Home to Henry reflects my evolution as a writer and guitarist. The ability to whistle a melody over a big guitar line, ah music to my ears! Working with Glenn has increased my abilities by playing off his own influences and his raw boundless talent and energy. I have been fortunate to work with other Henrys over the years (some with trained conservatory experience) and have learned much from Rob and Jim. Currently, Todd and I are developing into twin big guitars with out stepping on each others toes, kinda like a sober version of Richards & Wood! Working with Lenny adds musicality and enthusiasm and after playing for 35 years, these infusions help!

Give a listen, come to a show and experience Home To Henry. We have a deep musical bench!