Expanded Edition of 'Our New Orleans' Benefit Album coming up

From Nonesuch records :

A remastered, expanded edition of the 2005 record Our New Orleans will be released for the first time on vinyl on January 29, 2021, available to pre-order here. The two-LP set, also available then digitally, includes five previously unreleased tracks: “Do You Know What It Means,” by Davell Crawford; “Let's Work Together,” by Buckwheat Zydeco and Ry Cooder; “Crescent City Serenade,” by Dr. Michael White; “Walking By the River,” by Dr. John; and “Do You Know What It Means,” by The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra featuring Donald Harrison.

“Our New Orleans is a testament to the power of music to heal and provide a sense of community,” said Marguerite Oestreicher, Executive Director of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. “Musicians helped the city heal after Hurricane Katrina, and Musicians’ Village helped them come home. We’re grateful to Nonesuch and everyone who worked on this album. 

 

Joe Henry prooduced songs for this record by 'Allen Toussaint', 'Irma Thomas' & 'The Dirty Dozen brassband' .

Spanish version of 'Flesh and Blood'

Spanish musician Luis Moro has released this year his 8th album 'Norteamericana aquí'.

 It is an album with Spanish versions of songs by Calexico, Iron & Wine, Devendra Banhart , Sharon van Etten, Ani Difranco, Wilco, Warpaint, ... and Joe Henry. 

He translated 'Flesh and Bone' from Tiny Voices.  It is entitled  'Carne sangre y hueso'

Come over here, and let me carry you

First day of the Autumn holiday,
First day of our second lockdown.

Hello you all,

A few small things passed by for me these last few days. Maybe it was coïncidence, maybe it had to be. Who knows. 

It gave me the necessity to write this post. 

Feeling more and more worrying people around me, about everything that is going on, I offered them as comfort Birds of Chicago's 'Real Midnight'.

Real midnight’s gonna come

But yeah that’s alright

We will be as the stars

And put holes in the night

In 10,000 years

they’ll see our love shine

When they’re lying on their backs

Looking up through the pines

Lift me up lift me up

Don’t cut

Me down

Suddenly I noticed the connection of this song's task with one of the most beautiful songs in my own language : 'kom hier da'k u draag' by 2 brothers, known as Kommil Foo. Freely translated it means : Come over here, and let me carry you. 

Today, for us over here, I believe it to be the most important song to listen to. And actually, I think the words of this song can also offer comfort to you, dear reader.

So I took the liberty to translate it. (I hope the Brothers Mich and Raf feel OK with this. If not; just let me know). 

So here it is for you : 

For the man who wake's up early in the morning
Who'm life has hit him hard in the face
Who drinks his coffee with courage in despair
Reads his paper, walks his oversized dog -

For the mother on a bike with her child,
Fighting fiercefully against the rain and strong wind,
Who wonders when that long awaited
dreamlife will finally begin.
For the busdriver

For the baker on the corner and his Thai wife
 - Who smiles so beautifully
and talks on and on - but
you can't understand a word she says, even though you try
For the garbagemen behind the truck

For the boys on the subway-
For the worker on the roof eating his lunch

For that man, that brave man
Who refused to hate, although
the biggest injustice was layed upon him

For the poet
Who had to remain silent,
who  had to crawl, but who, in his head,
kept his head up straight all the time

For every Godforgotten drunk
in every Godforgotten bar
who shouts along with the refrain
For the minister and his rest at night
The farmer and his toothache
For the people in the room, each one of you
All of you

Come over here,
And let me press you to my chest
Touch my heart, let me move my hand through your hair
So that I can ask you if you'd like a drink,
coffee maybe, perhaps a glass of wine ? -  and then you can say
You'd rather be left alone,
That's OK - but maybe
you do want to talk

You do want to tell me what's on your mind
What presses your shoulders
Every doubt
Every missed opportunity
Every question you didn't ask
Everything you believed in all those years which you regret today
Every victory, every defeat -

Come over here, and let me carry you -
Come over here, and let me carry you -

For the skinny girl,
For the boy on the bridge -
For the elderly lady with here purse and her back straight up proud

For the neighbour and her incompetence
to simply be content -
For the newborn child who already knows everything
For Marc, who never fiited in, simply
because he tried too hard -

For Mary, Lisa,  For André,
For you

Come over here,
And let me press you to my chest
Touch my heart, let me move my hand through your hair
So that I can ask you if you'd like a drink,
coffee maybe, perhaps a glass of wine ? -  and then you can say
You'd rather be left alone,
That's OK

Or perhaps
You ask me if I'd like a drink
Because maybe I want to talk
I want to share my heart
What presses my shoulders
Every doubt, every missed oportunity
Every question I didn't ask
Everything I believed in all those years and I regret today
Every victory, every defeat -

come over here, and let me carry you -
come over here, and let me carry you -

Original Lyrics : Mich and Raf Walschaerts

 

The Working Songwriter

 Listen to a great podcast with Joe Henry.

Joe Pug hosts a monthly conversation with one of today's best songwriters. 

The acclaimed songwriter and Grammy winning producer joins us to talk about his journey and his creative process.

This week's episode is brought to you by Bandzoogle (https://bandzoogle.com) and Coresound (https://coresound.onelink.me/SKgp/13a3994f)

 

The concert that didn't happen (but maybe it did...?)

Hello Everyone,
Enjoying a nice glass of wine here, enjoying that beautiful full moon. But it’s time to go.
 I put down my glass and make my way out. While crossing; I take one last look at the moon, and then I enter the theater….

When I find my seat, all there is left to do, is waiting for the fading out of the houselights. On stage we already get a preview of what’s to come. There is a microphone in the middle and an empty barseat behind it, accompanied by an equally empty guitarstand. A little off-center a concertpiano is quietly waiting.

Ah, it’s time to begin….

Joe walked on stage with his guitar. He sat down, said good evening to us all and played ‘Salt and Sugar’ as an opener. When he was done, the audience embraced him with so much warmth ! Without saying something we all knew the circumstances on how this song, and his latest album, came to be. It was as if we finally could stop holding our breath. There he was, we had missed him, and kept him in our hearts all this time. There he was…
Joe looked at all of us, and made a little bow.  “ Thank you, I’m even more happy to be back here than ever.” As if he knew what we all were thinking.
‘Bloom’, ‘Orson Welles’ and ‘General Tzu Names The Planets For His Children’ from his latest album followed, with that last one a first highlight of the evening. Wow! Goosebumps, and we are only 4 songs in…. What treats will there be for us the rest of the evening ? 

He moved over to the piano, and first brought us ‘Tomorrow is October’ followed by ‘God Only Knows’. 2 songs that keep standing the test of time, and we will receive more of those further on the evening. Joe kept on moving over the keys, and slowly he turned in to a Jazzclub pianist. His fiddling on the keys referred to Dave Brubeck by shifting into the intro of ‘Strange Meadow Lark’. In the meantime, he told us a story:

You know, when I was kid, I was completely intrigued by Casablanca, the Movie I mean. I was intrigued by the entire atmosphere of it. I wanted to be in Casablanca, not the real one, I didn’t know that off course, No I wanted to be in THAT Casablanca, the only one I knew.
I remember myself hanging over the kitchen table, with my glass of soda water saying : “Off all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks in to mine.” (laughter in the audience) Or, sometimes when I was up in my room I’d say to a wooden puppet on the windowsill: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship….."

And sometimes I sat at the piano, and said to myself : “play it joe, Play ‘As time goes by’."

And then he did. He gave us a wonderful rendition of that classic written by Herman Hupfeld.

Leaving the Piano, Joe suddenly said: ”Please Welcome on Stage  : Mr JT Nero and Allison Russell of Birds of Chicago!"  Wait!? Did he really say that ?  I knew the answer when they, indeed, walked on stage. What a wonderful surprise ! 
We first got the wonderful ‘In time for Tomorrow’. The more I hear it, the more I find it one of the most beautiful songs Joe has ever written. Especially if you have JT and Alli backing up ! They received a well-deserved warm applause for that.

“I don’t know if you know this”, said Joe, “but they can make music that completely grabs me. If you don’t, I’m maybe a bit jealous for the experience of what you are about to discover”. In which we first heard their ‘Barley’, with the amazing voice of Allison in a lead role, and as last song before the intermission ‘American Flowers’. 
Slowly the curtains closed. Time to get a drink.


When the curtains opened again, there was another surprise for us. We now saw the setup for an entire band. While this sank in, they walked on stage : Jay Bellerose (Drums), David Piltch (Upright Bass), Patrick Warren (Piano) followed by JT Nero (guitar) and Allison Russell(Clarinet, backing vocals, small percussion,…).

“Say hello, to these fine crazy people with me !” They started with ‘Shook up the World’, a song Joe wrote in memory of Muhammed Ali. This followed by ‘Trampoline’.
Slowly the intensity build up, from ‘River floor’, over ‘Death to the storm’, to an impressive ‘The dark is light enough’. 
We could take back our breath with ‘Mule’, ‘The man I keep hid’ and ‘the Gospel according to water’. Just enough to go all the way through the roof with ‘Monkey’, ‘Time is a lion’, ‘Odetta’ and ‘Like She was Hammer’.
"We’ve got one more song for you ":  ‘Eyes out for you’.
We all needed to release tension and gave them a standing ovation!

As a first encore, Joe alone walked over to the piano and played ‘You can’t fail me now’. After that:  Birds of Chicago walked back on stage, and the 3 of them sang as a Gospel, ‘These Days’ by Jackson Brown.
For the last 2 songs, the band came back on stage.

"2 Weeks ago we had to say goodbye to John Prine. Although it was not unexpected, the loss of such mountain hit us hard. He came with a writing voice full-formed and perfectly tuned to his tremulous times; and it has grown deeper and more expressive with years because he had been willing to see us all with an eye as compassionate as it was unflinching. His gentle acknowledgment of our desires and failures was affirming, and made buoyant by forgiveness. Against many odds, we are thus nourished and persuaded to press on — and encouraged to just maybe forgive ourselves too as we go. This is Stormy Windows…"(1)

…And after that, there was only one more. To end the night they performed ‘lead me on’ from Joe’s album ‘Invisible Hour’.


But it was not the end…. We stood up, and just kept on clapping, until finally Joe walked back on stage on his own.

“Thank you all, this is not even a little bit overwhelming. But it is time to lay the evening to rest.
So with this song, I wish you all a good homecoming, and I hope to see you soon. “

The end was for his version of ‘Hobo’s Lullaby’ from his ‘Shine a light’ album with Billy Bragg.

It was indeed, also for us, not even a little bit an overwhelming concert. Thank you for this.


When I walked out of the theater I took one more look at the moon,
… I raise my glass to it…. and said  “That could have been quiet an evening.”
Slowly I start to clean up the table in the garden, and in the end, just before I blow out the last candle I say : “Here’s looking at you kid!”.

Much Love,
Stefan

Full setlist :
Salt and Sugar – Bloom – General Tzu…. – Orson Welles – Tomorrow is October – God Only knows – As Time goes by (Herman Hupfeld) – In time for Tomorrow – Barley (Birds of Chicago) – American Flowers (BOC)

Intermission

With band : Shook up the world – Trampoline – River Floor – Death to the Storm – Dark is light Enough – Mule – The man I keep hid – The Gospel according to Water –Monkey – Time is a lion – Odetta –Like She was a hammer – Eyes out for you

Encore 1 : You can’t fail me now (solo) – These Days (Jackson Brown) (With BOC) – Stormy Windows (John prine) (Full Band) – Lead me on (Full Band)

Encore 2 : Hobo’s Lullaby


(1)https://wfuv.org/content/joe-henry-five-essential-john-prine-songs

How the 'Birds of Chicago' concert could have sounded...

April 18, 2020

Witthout the pandemic; me, my wife and kids would be enjoying A 'Birds of Chicago' Concert, right now !

It would have been a wonderful evening. (Don't worry, it still is a wonderful evening, but we are just at home.)

In my imagination, this is the setlist we would have heard tonight live. (The last song sung by (off course) Allison Russell.

Enjoy.

Behind the scenes of Heath Cullen's upcoming album

Heath Cullen has released a trailer for his upcoming album. The album will be released on April 17. (2 weeks later then earlier mentioned).
Besides producing, we find out that Joe also has written the lyrics for Song that I know on this album.

It was also Joe's first active producing session after the cancerdiagnosis. Like he says himself in the clip : "When you see Heath Cullen, thank him!"


Anyway; I ordered my copy, now it's up to you !










And have you heard Heath's version of Time is a Lion  ?

Touring update

Joe's website has posted the updates concerning his tour.

• The U.S. dates are rescheduled for July and August. 

   

I must admit, seeing the evolution over here in Belgium, I find those dates optimistic. I hope, with you, that by then we all can have a little more 'normal' life.

• The European tour has been cancelled.

Statement on the official website concerning the European tour :

It will come as no surprise that Joe’s planned European tour dates have all been cancelled. We will be attempting to reschedule as many as we can, but it’s unclear at this point when that will be possible. Stay tuned. And stay safe. 

• We already learned that Big Ears festival was cancelled.  

• And also Nowhere Else Fest has been cancelled for this year. 

Due to health concerns, Nowhere Else Festival has been postponed for one year until May 28-30, 2021. Our entire amazing lineup reconfirmed for 2021. Grateful. Please make plans to join us for an especially meaningful & celebratory gathering. #hope #healing https://t.co/pVeZkvWo3q pic.twitter.com/oeGtGA7c6H

— Over the Rhine (@overtherhine) March 21, 2020

Take care out there...
Take care of Each Other
With Love,
Stefan

Time is a lion by Heath Cullen

Our lives since 10 days

10 days in....
10 days ago life changed....
10 days ago......

Let me first say that me and my family are all in good health, and the following may seem not of the most importance,  but we are financially stable. (for a lot of people here it can become a drama.)

A Pandemic is visiting human kind, and in a way it is showing us what really is the most important thing : 'Taking care of eachother' (I mostly prefer to write each other, because it displays more what I mean). Taking care of each other, in all means possible.

Let me first open up on what I actually do for a living.
My professional life exists out of 2 elements.  I work in the pre-production fase of the entertainement sector. Our jobs consist f.e. of the huge Arenaproductions and big summerfestivals... I make technical designs, and do calculations on structures that need to be hung and placed in such enviroments. We want them to keep hanging and standing off course.
Besides that, I teach the upcoming generation in this field. It's a 2 year course in the senior years of Highschool. When my students finished their course (if all goes well at the age of 18), they can either go to work, or decide to specialise them by a bachelor or master education.

10 Days ago our Governement took their first measures concerning the Corona-pandemic. (They have been sharpened in the mean time). 1 of the measures back then, was that events with crowds bigger then 999 people were forbidden....
Well, you can imagine the problem that creates for the specific company I work for.  Let me say it blunt : within 24 hours the orderbook was empty. Not only in Belgium, but in all of Europe pressure was on, and they all shut down. Within 24 hours I was technically unemployed in this area. Within 48 hours our entire stage-art world pauzed. (theater, dance, musical, exhibitions, concerts,.... ) An entire industry stopped.

The next day it was decided that schools were to be closed.....
It doesn't imply that there are no courses anymore, we are just not allowed to sit together in a room. The building is empty, but we keep on teaching. It works ! Using livestream, chats and videochats I am teaching. At the hours we normally have lessons, me and my students sit behind our computers at home and learn. It is of course impossible to keep on doing this forever. Today, it is only 2 weeks until the Easterholiday. up to then we can do this. I hope it will be possible to meet my students again in real life after that. Not only for the quality of their learningprocess, but because I care for them....

In the meantime, off course, my 2 children are at home, but also my wife has to work from home. So here we are, together at home, and instructed to keep within our 'familybubble' and not seek contact with others. So we can go outside, but stay among our verry close circle, even if we take a walk in the neighbourhood and in the park. It is advised to restrict other contact to the absolute necessary : groceries, doctors, pharmacists. (All the other stores are closed anyway). Luckily for my family it is only groceries for us.

I believe these measures are necessary. Currently in Belgium the official amount of infections is 2815 (Who knows how many are not tested?). we have 1089 patients in the hospital, 238 people are in intensive care, 167 people are on a respirationmachine. 67 people have died in the meantime. 58 people are cured and left the hospital.  For now our hospitals can cope.
(Our country is around 30.500km² and we live here with approx. 11,5 Milj. people.)

We need to control this virus, and keep it from spreading. Especially for the vulnerable people. My children will be fine, me and my wife will probably be fine, but our parents, and people with health issues are not. That is one reason for this social distancing, but there is also a practical side. We need a healthcare system that can deal with this,... and then we end up with the already famous Graphic. We need to slow down the virus... To describe it more visually : We don't need more people going to the hospital then the hospital can cope with. Thanks to these measures, so far, our country can cope.  Unfortunatly Italy's and Spain's system is slowly collapsing....

So now, here we are at home. We notice suddenly that it is possible to perform our basic daily duties, and at the same time spend time with the family, but also give eachother enough space like everyone needs now and then. Off course we miss social contact. We miss our friends, Going to restaurants. I miss having a beer with friends, seeing concerts and shows. But it is the situation today. Our children don't have their weekly boyscout-meetings, so we're doing that at home. We are playing games, reading books, watching movies and series. We are performing music, listening to music, and starting personal projects we've put on the shelf for so long.

The 1 big side effect is the hoarding of food and (mainly) toiletpaper. I don't get it. We all receive pictures, videos, advise from stores,... on how our warehouses are filled. There is no problem. The reason that shelfs are empty is the fact that staff can't keep up with filling them in the store. I went to the store yesterday, and the shell for toiletpaper was completely empty. I don't get that, we are a week in... How much toiletpaper do you need ?


Helas it has the effect that people working in hospitals, go to the store at the end of the day and don't find enough suply for themselfs. The people who earn it much more than I do(and many others), I believe. They are currently our heroes. 

We thank and support every nurse, doctor and staff.  They are working the hardest these days. Nationally we applaud out of the window everyday from our house, and my wife is sewing mouthmasks for the staff of a retirement home in the neighbourhood.

It works, ... so far.
Today is World Syndrom day where we pay extra attention to people with down syndrom, by putting on different socks.

Take care of yourself,
Take care of each other
Much Love,
Stefan and family.

A playlist of Joe's work

Hello Everyone out there,

(I assume like a lot of people,) I find myself at home with much more time on hand then I'm used to.

Anyway, It gave me some time to prepare something I wanted to do for a long time, and at the same time, it will give you 6+ hours of listening pleasure.


I've made a playlist,... a totally incomplete, but still impressive list spanning Joe's entire career. You'll find a unique mixture of songs, with 1 thing in common. Joe Henry was involved in it.

Now that it is made, I'll keep on adding songs to it as they come.

Enjoy the listen,
and take care of yourselfs and others.
Greetings,
Stefan

Cancelled and postponed shows

Because of the Corona pandemic; The entire entertainement world is suffering these days, and the following period. This naturally also affects shows by Joe.

It is absolutely necessary to take these measures. It's not a nice thing, but it is necessary.

So far I see as cancelled or postponed :

March 18 / Boston, MA @ City Winery [Postponed]

March 19 / New York, NY @ The Cutting Room[Postponed]
March 21 / Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java [Postponed]

April 7 / Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios[Postponed]

March 26-29 / Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival [Cancelled] 

Joe will be in Europe in the 2nd half of April. I must admit, seeing how things are evolving, .... I personally doubt these shows can take place. 

I do hope so, but I don't think it is going to happen. I'll be verry sad about it, but everyone's health comes first now ! 

Take care of each other out there !

With Love,

Stefan

Women sing Waits

Come on up to the House : Women sing Waits 

An album released a few months ago to celebrate Tom Waits' 70th Birthday.  

With a little delay, I finally got to listen to these songs.

I remember when news of this album came and the tracklist was announced,  some of my Waits-fan-(but first of all) good friends where sceptical. I'll address this to expectations and desires of what they wanted to hear, thinking about Waits.

When it comes to why I love Tom's work, I also will talk about his own strange world, the sounds, the stomping, the 'Clang-boom-steam'. I'll first listen to Bone machine, Raindogs, Real Gone... That's me.

Regarding this album; I didn't have any expectations, until I read who where the women, and which songs they would bring. I was not disappointed....

As a matter of fact, it made my appreciation even bigger (if possible).  I am actually convinced that it where only these women who could make that possible.
I(we) tend to put Tom's musical genre, in the picture. It is Waitsian. But what this album puts on display is, and we know this off course, is what a great songwriter Tom is.

Men have also covered Tom's ballads, but because you have a male singer, I start to compare. But here : It are these interpretations who give the song, and not a Waits song. That has an enormous power for me. This time the song became free of its father. It became itself. It took for me these women to do that.
I think it is only the beauty of women who can bring out this beauty. They wrap their arms around me, and I am again that little boy in his mother's arms. 

I was not planning on giving my song-to-song analysis, and if you'll ask me if I like each interpretation, the answer is no. Not alone is it a rare thing that I like each song on an album, there is also a matter of personal taste...
But I do want to name the openingtrack 'Come on up to the house' by Joseph.  There is a weird blanket of sadness, hope and comfort in their version. It's the girl that intrigues you, and you'll never be able to put your finger on it.





Would I have written the same words on this album a few years ago ? I asked myself.
I think I have to admit I'd probably would not.  Like I said; Tom's more cracked funk, is my thing.

M.C. Escher

You see, I am culturally and artisticly shaped by European Avant Garde. My DNA exists of Brecht and Weill, There is Stravinsky and Ravel, M. C. Escher, Alfonse Mucha. Panamarenko in my own Country, Horta, ....  The Black Rider. 

 





The Americana music was not my world. It is only by wandering around in Joe Henry's world that I discovered the beauty and warmth of this family. Through his words, poetry and eyes my (musical) world reshaped, and expanded. 

So now I'm sitting here, listening to these women singing these beautiful songs, and I love it. I am happy.

Much Love,
Stefan.

T Bone Burnett & Joe Henry at Carnegie Hall

On November 13, Joe Henry and T Bone Burnett will join the stage at Carnegie Hall. It is an event hosted, and curated by Rosanne Cash.
The event is booked for the Zankel Hall, (Capacity : 599 seats). 

Tickets are currently only available for Carnegie Hall subscribers.  

Since it opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for musical excellence as the aspirational destination for the world’s finest artists. From Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Mahler, and Bartók to George Gershwin, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, and The Beatles, an honor roll of music-making artists representing the finest of every genre has filled Carnegie Hall throughout the years.

An album, produced by Joe and T Bone Burnett, for Jerry lee Lewis is in the makes.  

Well people : Get yourself organised I would say !

Bob Dylan @ Carnegie Hall

Springtime in the Heart; Heath Cullen

Could be filed in the section : 'Is there news about this one... ?' :  Suddenly I was thinking : "Is there news on the Heath Cullen Album ?"

And there you go, The album will be entitled 'Springtime in the Heart'. It will be released on April 3rd.

You can pre-order the album ath his website : https://music.heathcullen.com/



further info : 
Produced by Joe Henry.

Recorded & mixed by Pete Min at Lucy's Meat Market, Los Angeles, CA. Mastered by Kim Rosen at Knack Mastering, NJ.

Heath Cullen: vocals, guitar right
Adam Levy: guitar left
Jay Bellerose: drums & percussion
Jennifer Condos: bass guitar
Levon Henry: reeds
Patrick Warren: keys

Nowhere Else Fest 2020

Yes my friends, it is that time of the year again...

This year, again, Joe Henry will be playing at the Nowhere Else Fest. But what a line up !!

Besides Joe, you will get to see : Patty Griffin, Allison Moorer, Birds of Chicago, Willy Tea Taylor, Anna Tivel, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Nicky Lerner,....

All this is yours from 22nd until 24 May.
get. your tickets ! and Have fun !

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

This is getting good. More soon! #nowhereelsefestival #nowhereelsefestival2020

Een bericht gedeeld door OvertheRhineMusic (@overtherhinemusic) op 21 Feb 2020 om 11:25 (PST)

A new co-producing project

Startribune wrote a review of Joe's show in Minneapolis. Those who've read it, couldn't miss the following :

Henry shared another reaffirming recent moment in his life: co-producing a gospel album in Nashville for Jerry Lee Lewis, whom he described as “frail, quickly fading and only half-way in this world” but still able to give voice to powerful music.

Rolling Stone has some more info on it. From them we learn, that it is produced, also, with T-Bone Burnett.

picture from rollingstone magazine

 Late last month, the 84-year-old Lewis booked a recording session — his first in more than five years — to see if he could still make music. The idea was to begin a long-planned album of gospel classics that he’d known since his childhood in Ferriday, Louisiana — songs he knew before he helped kick-start rock & roll with hits like “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire.” Before the session, Lewis told his team and producer T-Bone Burnett that he didn’t want a piano in the room at all: his right hand wasn’t working, and he just wanted to sing. But they kept one in the room just in case. When Lewis sat on its stool, he couldn’t help but lift his right hand onto the keys. To his own surprise, his fingers started moving.

To be continued of course. 

 Edit February 24 : 
Joe has confirmed this info.

T Bone and I produced this collaboratively; and it was an incredibly moving experience for me.

— Joe Henry (@JoeHenryMusic) February 23, 2020

 

New Madrid show on April 29

There is a extra show on sale for Joe Henry.  It is not (yet) on his official website.

April 29 in Madrid; Teatro Lara

 Get your tickets !

Podcasts for you !

There are 2 great podcasts to listen to these days when you appreciate Joe's work, and the people close to his 'music-making-proces'.

Allison Russel (Birds of Chicago) in 'Musings of the Artist, (Honest) conversations with Montse Andrée'

 

It's a wonderful conversation to listen to.... The importance of Art, (Personal) history and how to deal with it, Gender, love, resilience, life, connection,... 

Music Makers and Soul Shakers with Steve Dawson, Episode 78 Kim Rosen

For those interested (like I am) in the practical side of getting a recording to its audience, wether it will be on CD, LP, Digital Format.... (Don't worry, it's not getting to technical.)

Kim Rosen is a Mastering Engineer, and has worked numerous times with Joe Henry, Ryan Freeland, Birds of Chicago,... 

Hear her talk about what Mastering is, and how it is evolving, the challenges in the Digital era and the constant changing business,  and how she came to work for Ryan Freeland.... 

If you are new to Music Makers and Soul Shakers : Make sure to dig in to other episodes. Joe himself, but also Ryan Freeland, Kenneth Pattengale, and many more have already been a guest. 

Enjoy the listen !

Greetings,

Stefan. 

Pre-grammy show celebrating Willie Nelson

Joe was 1 of the artists on an evening celebrating Willie Nelson.

Henry, asking the crowd to “lean in close,” captured Nelson’s sharp heartache in “Funny (How Time Slips Away).” (source)

Time to meet some friends

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh!" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

The European dates of Joe's tour have been announced.

Today, a little more then a year after receiving a cancer diagnosis, the train of Joe's life is slowly coming back up to speed. How happy that makes me. How happy that makes all of us !

In Belgium, Joe will be playing the Royal citytheater in Brugge (Organised by Cactus musiccenter, Kudos to them for choosing this venue!). 150 years old, it is one of Europe's best preserved theaters.

Here's Joe's view on stage. 

But, off course, what is most dear to me, is to see Joe again after a few years since his last visit. And how am I being spoiled in that week !.... A few days before Joe is in brugge, those other common friends are playing Belgium : Birds of Chicago ! What are the odds to that... 

Over the years they have become friends, friends who don't get to spend much time together in a room. Time and Distance have set the rules for that. So we will grab it, and live it to the full. 

Just a few days in between...

Can't we fix something for that ? Is it possible to stay a few days longer JT and Alli ?

Oh, let's cut it short. Just postpone your flight back, and join Joe on stage in Brugge, We all know, we all want that...

Anyway, 

what I wanted to say : I love all of you guys, and we're looking forward to seeing you again. 

Much Love,

Stefan

The Gospel is hitting the road !

Tickets via his official Website !
https://www.joehenrylovesyoumadly.com/live