In a career spanning more than 20 years, Joe Henry has left an indelible and unique imprint on American popular music. As a songwriter and artist, Mr. Henry is celebrated for his exploration of the human experience. A hyper-literate storyteller, by turns dark, devastating, and hopeful, he draws an author’s eye for the overlooked detail across a broad swath of American musical styles – rock, jazz and blues – rendering genre modifiers useless. He is a perennial worldwide song-writing poll-topper.
Mr. Henry has collaborated with many notable American artists on his own body of works, including Don Cherry and T Bone Burnett (Shuffletown, 1990), Victoria Williams and The Jayhawks’ Gary Louris and Marc Perlman (Kindness of the World, 1993), guitarist Page Hamilton (Trampoline, 1996), Daniel Lanois and Jakob Dylan (Fuse, 1999), Ornette Coleman, Brad Mehldau, Marc Ribot, and Meshell Ndegeocello (Scar, 2001), Jason Moran (Blood From the Stars, 2009). He has scored music and written songs for various film’s: Jesus’ Son, Knocked Up, Motherhood and produced tracks for the film I’m Not There. He also wrote the song “Stars” for the closing credits of HBO’s Six Feet Under.
As a producer, Mr. Henry’s influence has helped shape the sound of iconoclastic artists including Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann, Loudon Wainwright and Rodney Crowell. He earned Grammy Awards for his work on Soloman Burke’s astonishing comeback record Don’t Give Up On Me, and the Ramblin’ Jack Elliot album I’m a Stranger Here. He is currently producing the new Aaron Neville album.
Mr. Henry resides with his wife and children in South Pasadena, California and often works from a recording studio built into the basement of his home.
