Joe plays 'boxer' on the Paul Simon tribute tonight.

Joe announced that he will play 'boxer' on the 'Paul Simon' tribute tonight. He will be backed up by his son Levon, and by Kenneth Pattengale. (Kenneth is part of  'the milk carton kids' who are backingvocals on Joe's new album)

 (from facebook)
(picture of the venue)...this will be my scene for a brief few moments tonight, as i sing "the boxer" --with kenneth pattengale and Levon Henry in tow-- and in the company of such dear friends as allen toussaint, Bettye LaVette, and john doe (among a cast of thousands).
the world can be rugged; and, in flashes, can offer wonder and untold affirmations. tomorrow night, those affirmations, i believe, are due to paul simon; but we who are their conduit shall also be blessed.
love to all...


Here is Paul Simon doing it.

To whom it may concern (Joe Henry)

In the words as beautiful as we know Joe can write, he wrote a few words to announce his new album.

"....Simply stated, it is my intention to be as bold and creative in taking the music out into the world as I tried to be in writing and recording it. Perhaps I am just at the point in my life, as a person and as an artist, where I understand that erecting a fence between the two was somebody else’s idea. And it has worn out its welcome."

Please, read the full text on his site. 

LA times Blog about Invisible Hour

Pop & Hiss, The music blog of the LA times. made a blogpost about the song 'lead me on', featured on 'Invisible hour.

"It’s an emotionally raw, folk-rooted ballad of romantic and spiritual yearning that reflects much of the album’s unfussy production......"

.........'Lead Me On,’ in particular, is one of the most stripped-down things on the album,” said Henry,.......The song, which features harmony vocals by Irish musician Lisa Hannigan, also has musical echoes of vintage folk-country music, and Henry reflects on some level the time he has spent in recent years with Kris Kristofferson.
“I have a memory of communicating by email with Kris’ wife, Lisa, and telling her, ‘I’m writing a song at this moment that sort of speaks to me in a way that Kris speaks, or has spoken to me historically,' " he said. "It has a romantic scene is in the foreground, but it stands to represent a wider view of living......."

read the full article here.

Update Boston concert June 27

Hello,

Tickets for Joe's concert in Boston, are on sale through ticketmaster.
(Thank you Sarah from the Concert Manic! blog for this info).

Invisible Hour : the musicians and their history with Joe

Hey,
How well do all these fine musicians know eachother ? I made a summary about it. If I forgot something, or made mistakes, please let me know. I'll adjust the info.

The group of musicians is a mix of people Joe has worked with for over 2 decades, and also knewer people.  

Jay Bellerose

The History of Jay and Joe goes back to 2001. Jay played drums on the song 'animal skin'. Wich was featured on the 'Ground work : act to reduce hunger' compilation. (Later this song was part of 'tiny voices'.)
After that, Jay played on numerous albums Joe produced, and was also a drummer on 'Tiny Voices', 'Civilians', 'blood from the stars' and 'reverie'.







Jennifer Condos

Bassplayer Jennifer's first encounter with Joe was for the album 'Fuse'(1999), where she played bass. After that she played also bass on 'Tiny voices' and 'blood from the stars'.
She also played on a couple of songs Joe produced for other musicians.







Levon Henry

Saxplayer Levon is Joe's son. He also played on the album 'blood from the stars'.










Greg Leisz
Guitarplayer Greg made his first appearance for Joe on the album 'Civilians'. He also worked on the score for the movie 'knocked up', which Joe Henry co-produced with Loudon Wainwright III







John Smith

This is the first album from Joe where John is playing. He has toured with him in the last few years.








David Piltch

Bass player David has been playing with Joe since the album Scar (2001). Only on the Album 'Tiny Voices' he doesn't appear. He also appeared on numerous albums Joe has produced.









The milk carton kids

The milk carton kids have no history on playing with Joe. But they are under the ANTI label. Joe has written a foreword for 2 of their albums.
For 'american songwriter', the milk carton kids wrote their appreciation for Joe. You can read it here.





Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Hannigan began working with Joe around 2010/2011. He produced her album 'passenger'. She did guest vocals on his album 'reverie'. After that, they toured regularely together.

Invisible hour info

Joe's official website has released info on the upcoming album.For the complete info, please visit his page.

U.S. Releasedate : June 3th, 2014
He is releasing it on the label 'Work Song'. This label was started by Joe and his Manager David Whitehead. 

tracklist :

1. Sparrow
2. Grave Angels
3. Sign
4. Invisible Hour
5. Swayed
6. Plainspeak
7. Lead Me On
8. Alice
9. Every Sorrow
10. Water Between Us
11. Slide

Credits :

Jay Bellerose	Drums
Jennifer Condos	Electric Bass
JH	Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
Levon Henry	Clarinet and Bass Clarinet, Tenor & Soprano Saxophones
Greg Leisz	Acoustic Guitar, Mandola, Mandocello, Weissenborn
John Smith	Acoustic Guitar, Mandola, Backing Vocals
David Piltch	Upright Bass (“Invisible Hour” and “Lead Me On”)
-Special Guests-
The Milk Carton Kids (Kenneth Pattengale & Joey Ryan)	Backing Vocals
Lisa Hannigan	Vocals on “Lead Me On”

Ticket info for the US tour.

Joe Henry's website is updated with info on ticketsale for the U.S. tour.

check it here.

Only for Washington and Boston, there is no info yet.
In San Francisco not only Joe will perform, but also Dan Wilson .
"Notes: Dan Wilson and Joe Henry co-headlining at Great American Music Hall."(from Dan's website)

Hint for the 'invisible hour' artwork ?

Joe's official website updated their coverpicture.
Could this be a hint for the artwork of the upcoming album ?

Update March 29, 2014

A new cover picture. Another picture from the artwork ?

Joe Henry announces U.S. Solo tour

Today, some American Solo shows where anounced on Joe Henry's website .

U.S. Solo Tour 2014

June 20, Great American Music Hall: San Francisco, CA

June 21, Largo: Los Angeles, CA (solo early set, full-band late set)

June 24, The Birchmere: Washington, DC

June 25, City Winery: New York, NY

June 26, World Cafe Live: Philadelphia, PA

June 27, Brighton Music Hall: Boston, MA

In Los Angeles there will be a 'full-band late set', after the soloshow.

For the moment there is no info about tickets.

Dutch 'Songs for Slim' article

www.festivalinfo.nl  has a review of the 'songs for slim' compilation. Featuring Joe Henry.

Joe made a version of 'Taken on the chin'.

Freely translated : ...Joe Henry truly brings an amazing-goosebumps version of 'Taken on the chin...'.

About  'songs for slim'.
On February 19th, 2012 former Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap was hospitalized due to a massive right brain stroke. Insurance does not pay for long term care and the general prognosis for Slim is that he will need around-the-clock care for the rest of his life. He needs our help.
Songs For Slim is a non-profit project that raises money for Slim and his family by having various artists cover songs from his solo works. All proceeds go towards assisting Slim and his family with the significant expenses related towards his long term care......

You can hear a sample here. Support them by buying the compilation. 

Billy Bragg on working with Joe Henry

Billy Bragg on working with Joe Henry

The new zealand Herald has an interview with Billy Bragg. He gives a little insight on working with Joe Henry. Joe Henry produced Billy Braggs album 'Tooth and Nail'.

"(About Handyman Blues) ....It's the funniest song on the album which was recorded in the US with producer Joe Henry, the onetime singer-songwriter whose studio career has seen him work wonders with the likes of Solomon Burke, Hugh Laurie and Bonnie Raitt among others.
Henry roped in a studio band of top-flight American session musicians to back Bragg.

"He didn't let me bring a guitar," he says. "You can barely hear me [play] on the record."
Henry encouraged Bragg to sing lower on the new songs - a reflection of where his voice has shifted after nearly four decades of belting out his punk-folk anthems, mostly solo over his trebly electric guitar.
"We both realised that my voice has dropped a bit. He encouraged me to head down a tone ... it allowed me to sing the songs and both more proficiently and I feel more soulfully."

Read the full article here.

 

Since it's release there have been several interviews with Billy about it :

musicradar

".....The new album Tooth & Nail shares a great deal of its sonic atmosphere with the Mermaid Avenue recordings. Was that a conscious decision?
It didn't start out that way, no. It was more a case of me going to see Joe to figure out what was what. I did some shows last year for Woody's centenary, playing a lot of Mermaid Avenue songs, and I found that people seemed to lean in to listen to what I was doing, I was able to create a very intimate atmosphere, and it was that intimacy that I wanted to bring to the new record. That was the thinking behind the way we wanted to record the new songs, but initially I didn't even know it was going to result in a whole album. Joe invited me to come over to his studio in Pasadena, he told me not to bother bringing a guitar, just a bunch of songs and a change of underwear and we'd see what happened....." 

consequenceofsound.net 
"....It started when Joe Henry asked me to come down into his basement in Pasadena, California. He said we could make a record in a week. At first I was skeptical, to be quite honest....."

And abc.net has a nice picture of the 2 of them on stage.

(Photo by Pete Dunwell)

Time is a lion

Time is a lion

Hello everyone out there. For years my respect for Joe Henry has been growing. More and more I keep a close eye on news about his work. For now I've always just randomly shared links all around. I started thinking maybe it's a better idea to gather all that into this blogspot.

As you can see, for the moment, there is not a lot to see over here, I'm going to let it grow slowly, like a tree. Will it becoming big ?
I have no idea. I don't know if blogging really is my thing, but there is only 1 way to find out I thought. If it doesn't work out for me, then I'll just quit it. Time will tell.

So, what's currently going on ?
- Mostly I think, we're all waiting for Joe's new album to be released. It will be entitled 'Invisible Hour'. 

- There will be some performances.....
He will perform at 'The music of Paul Simon' in Carnegie Hall on March 31th
On April 11 and 12 he will perform in Durham for : Two nights of new music from Joe Henry + Over The Rhine + The Milk Carton Kids
 And after that he embarques on a solo tour in Europe where I hope to be able to see 1 or 2 shows.

- He is coöperating on a new interesting project.
"Henry has his producer's hat on again as well, this time for a "multi-artist project" for Sony Masterworks re-creating Johnny Cash's 1964 album "Bitter Tears," a conceptual set about the plight of Native Americans. "
(source : Billboard)

I guess you could say we have a lot to look forward too.
I hope you'll enjoy this blog.