Don Henderson
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Don Henderson is a guitarist/vocalist/songwriter from Huntsville, AL with one foot in the acoustic-rock/pop genre, and one foot in the solo acoustic instrumental style. His debut album “Shorter by the Second” consists of eighteen songs, evenly divided between those two styles. His songs cover territory ranging from post-college boredom and disappointment (“Happens to Everyone”, “Food Court”), to clever yet sincere celebrations of love (“Relax with Snacks”, “Blame the Altitude”), to smart-assed self-analysis that’ll leave you smiling (“What Do I Know”, “Psych Book”).
Henderson is one of those rare songwriters who can play guitar as well as he writes—In fact, his guitar work alone makes the CD a worthwhile listen—Give a listen to his crisp, Knopfler-esque lead work woven throughout “Food Court”, his speedy yet soulful solo on “Five Second Rule”, or the growling, gut-punch of a solo on “Throwaways”, and hear for yourself.
And that’s not even counting the second half of the album, which features solo acoustic instrumental performances ranging from the lightning-paced virtuosic melodies of “Loopydance” and “12/3/97” to the simple yet beautiful fingerstyle work featured in “Mary” and “October Perfection”.
If you ask Henderson about his musical influences, you’ll probably want to pack a lunch. He can go on for hours if you let him: “I’m influenced in some way by just about everything I’ve ever heard. Every song rubs off on me a little, whether it’s a great song that makes me want to write something great myself, or it’s a clunker of a song whose value is that it shows me what not to do… hopefully (laughs). As far as my biggest influences go, I’d say my songwriting style is shaped mainly by artists like Paul Simon, Barenaked Ladies, Mark Knopfler, Dave Matthews, The Police, U2, REM, The Beatles, Suzanne Vega, John Mayer, Violent Femmes, and at least two or three dozen other artists I’m sure I draw from subconsciously depending on my mood when I’m writing a song. As for my guitar playing, my style essentially came about from not being good enough at any one particular style to truly “master” it. As a result, I think I have a style of my own that sounds like me, and has borrowed from enough different sources that they can’t be traced. But if I had to name names, I’d say the players I draw from most for inspiration would be Michael Hedges, Mark Knopfler, Monte Montgomery, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Adrian Legg, Billy McLaughlin, Leo Kottke, and Dave Matthews. If you can’t listen to those players and get inspired to create music, there’s something wrong with your ears.
Henderson can be seen performing solo around the Huntsville, AL area, as well as with the recently formed Don Henderson Trio, which features Kim Coffey (percussion) and John Walker (bass).
CD: Shorter By The Second (see image above)
Reviewer: Dave Keir
Title: Musicality And Affectionate Irony
Deep-seated musicality and wry intelligence are the ground rules here. Articulate and affectionate, Don takes a sideways looks at life’s paraphanalia and takes the occassional swipe at it’s nonsenses. But he is just as likely to ponder golden moments and fair smiles. The songs’ narratives give the impression that he may be telling you some closely guarded secrets. All-in-all, the songs on board this collection are as lyrically sophisticated as they are musically adept and yet there is a straightforward earthy grace underpinning everything. The acoustic instrumental set displays a virtuosity that refuses to get in the way of the tunes. Excellently judged. Very well recorded and a definitely CD to slip into the player with regularity.
Links:
Buy the CD!
Don’s MySpace Page
