Goodbye, Fall

This morning I awoke to a thick patina of frost on the autumnal landscape of fallen leaves and pumpkins, and, in my garden, the cold-hardy Brussels sprouts and collard greens. I'd fired up the ol' charcoal grill over the weekend to smoke some turkey legs and watch the sky change colors as I drank dark porter and kicked a soccer ball around with my kids, wringing out every last drop of fall from the air before winter rolled in. Truth be told, I have a soft spot for winter. Dressed up in gunmetal-gray and earthy browns initially, and then, before long, downy white snow, winter means braises and soups and bold red wines and pilly wool hats and a warm house and a good book. My old Martin sounds better to my ear while strummed overlooking a snowflake-filled sky. Sure, come February, I will lust over the promise of an impending spring, but until then, there is much to love about this time of year and I intend to romanticize it all out of proportion.

This Friday, December 4, Ben and I head to Saratoga to join Tony Markellis for the winter portion of his ongoing music series at Mouzon House. The three of us have worked a whole lot together over the years, and we always have a lot of fun. More than just fun, though, we make some fine music together. Jo Henley has many faces: duos, trios, full-band, electric, acoustic, and so on, but no matter what, at the very heart of it all, are the songs. That's the foundation upon which all the rest is built, and when the three of us play together, the songs shine. They are broken down to their essence, allowing the stories, the narratives, to unfold. We dig deep, this trio, so you can safely expect we will be playing songs that span our discography, from our very first EP to brand-new tunes. We go on at 7pm. The patio is heated and enclosed, and Saratoga is sure to be sparkling this time of year. Join us!

Looking ahead, we have a full-band show at Aeronuat Brewing Company on Thursday, December 17. We played Aeronaut for the first time in October and loved it. So much fun! Outstanding beer, super nice people, and a just overall a great vibe. We hope to see you all there, Boston-area friends, for what is likely to be our last show of 2015. 

Andy & JH

Roots-Rocktober

I once heard Jason Isbell refer to fall as his favorite day of the year. In Alabama that might be true, but here in New England we are fortunate to have at least, oh, I don't know, 5 or 6 days of fall. Give or take. Despite what the calendar says, temperature-wise today felt more like a very late fall day, and I found myself craving something autumnal for dinner, so whipped up a batch of maple-cider roasted chicken and a big ol' pot of fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes as the wind outside howled through the trees and kicked up leaves and tossed them around the yard.

There are a couple more to come, but as of this writing I have two Jo Henley shows to announce in the coming weeks. The first is next Friday evening, October 9, at Aeronaut Brewing Company, a terrific craft brewery and taproom in Somerville, MA (14 Tyler St.). This is happening spot with a cool vibe, great beer, and we are really looking forward to making our debut there. We play the happy hour slot, from 6:30-8:15, and it's free, so come on out and have some fun with us next Friday night.

The only place that can rival is craft brewery is? An artisinal distillery of course! Lucky for us, we have been invited to play a special Halloween-themed show on Friday, October 30, at Silo Distillery in beautiful Windsor, VT(3 Artisans Way). This one is going to be fun. The good folks at Silo make hand-crafted, small-batch spirits, which I, and we as a band, are very much looking forward to sampling. Aged whiskey, bourbon, gin, moonshine, vodka, and more--they do it all and all of it well. I can't think of a better place for a Halloween party, so we hope all of our Vermont fans will be sure to join us. We'll play a bunch of JH songs and are guaranteed to get into some deep jams, but we are also working up a bunch of surprise cover songs for just the occasion. If you are inclined to come in your Halloween costume, that would be awesome. But we won't hold it against you if you don't. It's going to be a fantastic night either way! We play from 5:30-7:30, so come early and help us sample the, ahem, spirits! 

Happy fall. See you at the shows!

Out on the Weekend

Hey friends!

This Friday, Ben, Rebecca, and I are playing in my hometown of Schenectady, NY, at Cafe Nola (617 Union Street), with our friend and bassist Tony Markellis joining us for the night. Music starts at 6:30pm. Cafe Nola serves excellent New Orleans-inspired food and a wide range of beer and drinks. This will be our third time playing there and we are really looking forward to it. Always a good time!

Our Cafe Nola show is just part of our weekend trip to Schenectady. We are also in town to work on our debut acoustic trio EP with producer Tim Lynch and the good folks at The Recording Company. We have a few songs already tracked, and I couldn't be happier with the results. We soon will have an official website launch, EP release, press photos, more shows booked, and, yes, a name. Everyone keeps asking us about the name. All in due time!

In addition to our trio EP, Rebecca will also be lending her lovely voice to the new Jo Henley record that Ben and I are just about to wrap up. This has been our (almost) secret project for much of the past 7 months, and every time I listen to the rough mixes, I get chills. It floors me. I don't want to say too much about it yet. There is still some work to do, not to mention mastering, artwork, vinyl pressings, and all that good stuff. January 2016 is our target date. I'll share some sneak peeks from the studio this weekend so you can hear for yourself.

Come out to Cafe Nola. There's going to be a great crowd at a great venue and Ben, Rebecca, Tony, and I are ready to put on a damn good show for you. See you there!

Andy

...I just wanna bang on my drums all day

It seems impossible that this is September here in New England. 91 degrees yesterday, 92 today, and nothing but glorious sunshine all this Labor Day weekend. I hope yours is just as beautiful wherever you are.

Last weekend we had two amazing--and amazingly fun--shows. Our friend Ari, who joined us on the drums for both, snapped this photo of my boy sitting in behind the kit for a couple of songs, including the live debut of a new JH song, "Ghosts Between My Bones." 

The Sun Sets on August

The twilight of August is upon us, bringing with it the beginning of the end of another glorious New England summer. I am always sad to see the season go, but I haven't much to complain about--I spent a large chunk of this summer hiking, camping, canoeing, and exploring the hills, mountains, and beaches of Vermont and Maine and the Adirondacks. It is so easy to get swallowed up by gadgets and social media and the day-to-day rate race and forget that all around us, usually not more than a very short drive away, is a respite from it all in the form of nature. I know, that almost sounds corny, but it's true. At least it was true for me this summer. I often say that my job in life, if you will, is to experience as many things as I can, process it, ponder it, and turn it into song (or prose or some other creative medium). What makes me incredibly lucky is that I have amazing bandmates to help me make them even better than I ever could alone. My jaunts into the wilderness have filled me with energy and stories and songs. I am excited for what comes next.

This is going to be a super fun weekend of music-making. Ben, Kent, Ari, Rebecca, and I are playing at Woburn's Horn Pond Summer Concert Series tomorrow night--Friday, August 28, from 6-8pm--and then on Saturday, August 29, at T-Bones Roadhouse in Plymouth from 1-5pm. Both shows are FREE. When the five of us play together, it combines the vocals and rootsy qualities of our new acoustic trio with Rebecca with the jammy rock side of Jo Henley and brings JH to a whole new level. Ben and I have seen (or heard, I should say) Jo Henley take shape in numerous different ways over the years, all of them wonderful in their own way, but this particular lineup is especially...agile is the word that comes to mind. We collectively have this feeling that we are equipped to handle wherever the songs take us. Come see for yourself what I mean. Summer may be winding down, the but we all know fall is, really and truly, the best time of year. I can't wait to see, and hear, what comes next. See you at the shows!

Andy & JH

Summer

Happy summer daze, friends! Thanks to all who came out to our shows last weekend at T-Bones on Saturday and the Lion Eyes Ride for Sight, a fundraiser to raise money for the blind, hosted by the Rockland Lions Club. Our friend Ari joined us on drums and helped Ben, Kent, and I take some old jams to very new places, as well as adding his jazzy touch to some of our latest material. I'm headed down south to the mountains for some writing inspiration and to visit some old friends for the next couple of weeks, but we we have some excellent shows lined up for August, including headlining Woburn's Horn Pond Summer Concert Series on Friday, August 21, and a return to the Gulu-Gulu in Salem, MA, on Saturday, August 22. Both are free shows, so come on out!

We weren't going to say anything until it was 100% finished, but rumors have been leaking so we might as well come clean: Ben and I have been quietly making a new Jo Henley record, which we will be wrapping up in early August and expect to release by the end of the year. It started off as just something fun to do over the week between Christmas and New Years, challenging ourselves to push the boundaries of roots-rock and the "sound" that Jo Henley has become known for, but what was supposed to be a simple EP quickly sounded so fresh and exciting that we decided to keep following the muse, writing new material, and here we are, just about to start mixing. I don't want to say too much about it, except that we think our fans are really going to be surprised--and happy--with this one. We'll share our first single with you later this summer.

But wait, there's MORE! Those of you who have come out to see our acoustic shows the past few months, including our late-May show at Club Passim, know that we have a new partner-in-crime in vocalist Rebecca Turner. This spring, Ben and I had wanted to play a string of duo gigs, but we didn't necessarily just want to play stripped-down versions of our Jo Henley songs. We wanted something new and different instead. We wanted to fuse the rootsy-jammy sound that is our bread-and-butter with the old-school country and folk duets along the lines of George and Tammy, Gram and Emmylou, and so on. Lyrically, I wanted the challenge of coming up with songs that could be sung as male/female dialogue and different viewpoints than what we typically do in Jo Henley, and musically the starkness of the acoustic guitars and melding of my and Rebecca's vocals opens up whole new worlds. It has been a tremendous experience so far and we are having a blast. Two weeks ago we headed to The Recording Company to track a couple of these new trio songs and they turned out amazing. We hope to have full EP completed later this fall, so be on the lookout! (By then we will also have a name for our trio, too. If you have any suggestions, let us know!)

In the meantime, please keep in touch, look for us on Facebook, and check our show schedule often as we have a bunch of new ones in the works, both as the full Jo Henley and our trio. I feel super lucky to keep doing what I love to do with such amazing folks.

Thank you for your continued support, friends. See you at the shows!

Andy & JH

Club Passim tomorrow!

Friends! Tomorrow afternoon--Saturday, May 30--Jo Henley returns to the legendary, subterranean folk venue Club Passim for an intimate, special performance. Ben, Jordan, Kent, and I will be playing a bluegrass-flavored rendition fan-favorite JH songs, some old chestnuts that haven't been played in years, and a couple brand-new ones.

We also are going to officially unveil a new side acoustic trio side project that Ben and I have been working on with our friend Rebecca Turner, a talented vocalist and veteran of the local music scene. If you are fans of the likes of Gillian Welch, George & Tammy, Gram & Emmylou, The Civil Wars, and so on--and how can you not?-- then you will appreciate what we've been up to. We have been hard at work writing new material specifically for this trio and will be playing those songs for the first time tomorrow at Passim. When we started getting together, to find common ground, we came up with a long list of old-school and even modern folk/country songs we all love and wanted to cover, so we will play some of those too, and we have reworked a bunch of Jo Henley songs too, which we think you guys will like. We are having a blast, and although it's required a lot of homework, a lot of preparation, it has been a whole bunch of fun! We are excited to share with you what we've been up to. Merging these two musical worlds is going to make for a great show tomorrow. I hope you will all come out! Tickets will be available at the door, but if you want to reserve a seat, I suggest you get your tickets online ahead of time here: https://tickets.passim.org/ordertickets.asp?p=4601&backurl=default.asp

Show starts at 3pm sharp! And it's all-ages, so bring the kids!

Club Passim, 47 Palmer Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (Harvard Square)

We will be busy all summer along, with plenty more dates to come too, so be sure to check our calendar!

Andy

Upcoming Shows!

Hey friends,

Our spring and summer schedule is quickly picking up steam--this is going to be a great stretch of gigs, with lots of new venues and towns, along with stops at all of our usual favorites. There are plenty more show announcements to come too--as well as some projects in the works that we are really excited to tell you guys about--so stay tuned. This is shaping up to be a special year for us!

Below are our upcoming performances. You can find more details, as well as our entire schedule, here.

  • Saturday, May 2 @ Cafe Nola - Schenectady, NY. 6:30pm (Andy & Ben duo show)
  • Wednesday, May 13 @ Mouzon House - Saratoga Springs, NY. 7pm. (Andy, Ben, & Tony trio show)
  • Saturday, May 16 @ Office Bistro - Plymouth, MA. 7pm. (acoustic show)
  • Saturday, May 23 @ T-Bones Roadhouse - Plymouth, MA. 1pm.
  • Saturday, May 30 @ Club Passim - Cambridge, MA. 3pm (matinee show!)

Every show is important to us, and playing live is what we love to do, but we are especially looking forward to our matinee show at Club Passim on Saturday, May 30. This is a very special venue for us, so we tried to find a day and time that would allow as many folks, including those from out of town, to come out and see us as possible. We also hope to debut that afternoon part of the aforementioned new project we've been working on. This is going to be one show you won't want to miss. Space is limited at Club Passim, so reserve your tickets now to ensure yourself a seat.

See you at the shows!

Andy & JH

The Noise reviews "Around These Parts"

Boston music magazine The Noise reviewed Around These Parts for their April issue. Check it out!

JO HENLEY

Around These Parts                

10 tracks

These guys are great. The ease and grace of their playing comes through like a live performance in the spirited little guitar riffs, and the subtle touches of mandolin and banjo. I’m heartened by the love for earth expressed in the song “The Last Monkey Maker”: “We can tar all our hillsides with roads/ Turn our art into binary codes/ You can’t know where you’re going/ If you don’t know what you left behind/ When the last monkey maker leaves town.”

“Deep in the Dirt” is a sad lament about love and loss, with wonderful vocal support by Hayley Sabella. “Under your knees/ As you free your garden of weeds/ The sky shines in my face/ Under your weight/I feel the ache of your hurt/ And I hear your remorse/ Deep in the Dirt.” “Jericho” flies along under a ripping melody supported with mandolin and impassioned vocal. “I want your love/ I need your love.” Those words have been in many songs; I feel them in this one. Fear is a theme that can find solace in a song. “Wait til May” speaks of some sort of tragic event and the way adults cope. “But we’re alright/ We’re okay/ I tell myself/ We’ll find a way/ The sun will burn away the night/ Wait til May with me tonight.” I wonder if it’s about the Boston Marathon bombing. Hayley Sabella sings on this one as well. I feel like I’ve heard “One More Night” before, even though I haven’t. It has that kind of epic rock sound like The Band or Creedence Clearwater Revival. “I’ve got a chip as big as Brooklyn/ On my shoulder/ I don’t want to hear/ There’s more to life than this/ Next week I’ll pick myself up by my bootstraps/ But tonight/ I’m full of vinegar and piss.”

There is a lot of heart in this CD, culminating in “Around These Parts”: “Dear Katie/ I’m settling in/ Winter’s here and I’m probably drinking/ More than one man should when he’s alone/ Come spring I’ll be hard to find/ I’m moving ’cross the Canadian side and I’m never coming home/ Around these parts I call home.” This album moves along with ardent vocals and guitar playing, telling stories of human life.                       (Kimmy Sophia Brown)

Thank you!

THANK YOU to all who came out to the Jo Henley/Grassroot show at Johnny D's on Friday night. It was a huge success! Boston-area photographer Richard Chase (who took the photo below) was there to capture some of it. You can find more of his excellent work here.

"Deep in the Dirt" Official Music Video

We are thrilled to share with you the official music video for "Deep in the Dirt," the first single off Around These Parts. Our good friend and filmmaker (and cartoonist, musician, documentarian, concert promoter, and a dozen other things) Jon Dorn and I had a brief conversation about the general idea for the video, but other than that, this is really Jon's work. I have long admired his sensibility and style and felt his ability to tell a story would shine through in "Deep in the Dirt," and I was right. This is not the band lip-syncing to the song. We aimed for something more cinematic, and Jon and his film production company Four String Films delivered in spades. We hope you enjoy it! And, of course, please share!!

Andy & JH

Upcoming Shows!!

As I clack away on my laptop, knocking back my second cup of coffee, the snow has finally stopped falling outside. It's piled up against the house nearly to the roof. This seems like nothing but a cruel joke at this point. 

But I must confess that, aside from the relentless and sky-high mountains of snow, there is much to like about these New England winters. Later today, after I shovel away what's come overnight, I'll play outside with the kids, get something slow-cooking on the stove for dinner tonight, crack open a bottle of wine, and work on some new songs that have been knocking around inside my head this week.

These cold days are also the best times to gather indoors, order up a pint, and enjoy live music together, and we are thrilled to be playing several awesome shows in the coming (cold) weeks--and they are all FREE SHOWS!

The biggest of these is Friday, February 27, at Johnny's D's, opening for our good friends Grassroot. Johnny D's is one of the best live music venues in the area and we are super excited to return. It's been a couple years. Oh, and if you haven't heard Grassroot yet, check 'em out. Jeremy, Dan, and Co. have one hell of a band, blending classic rock, funk grooves, and blues, but with an entirely modern and fresh approach. I've been a fan since the first time our bands shared a bill years ago and was blown away by their musicianship. They also happen to be a nice bunch of dudes. As for Jo Henley, we are still riding high from the December release of our new album Around These Parts and will be playing many cuts off that record, as well as digging into our back catalog for a few deep cuts and plenty of fan-favorites. Music starts at 8pm sharp. We expect to fill up the room, so be sure to get there on time, grab a seat, and hang with us! 

The following afternoon, Saturday, February 28, we will be back at T-Bones Roadhouse in lovely Plymouth for a 1-5pm afternoon show. As always, there is no cover at T-Bones, the beer is always flowing, the BBQ is always smoking, and the jams are always deep and adventurous. 3 sets starting at 12pm. Come on out!

But before we get to the Johnny D's/T-Bones weekend, we are back at one of the North Shore hippest spots, the Gulu-Gulu Cafe in Salem, MA, for a special show on Saturday, February 20. Always lively, always happening, with a fun staff, excellent food, and one of the most eclectic beer and wine menus out there. We are playing from 9-midnight. It's always a blast to play the Gulu. Join us!

Saturday, Feb. 21, Gulu-Gulu Cafe, Salem, MA 9pm FREE
Friday, Feb. 27, Johnny D's (opening for GRASSROOT), Somerville, MA 8pm FREE
Saturday, Feb. 28, T-Bones Roadhouse, Plymouth, MA 1-5pm, FREE

 

Around These Parts - CD Release Party

Dear friends,

A BIG, warm thank-you to all who came out to our CD release party last week at the The Spire for our new live album Jo Henley Live at The Spire. It was an exciting night with some of our favorite musicians and collaborators joining us, and better yet our good friends at Four String Films captured a bunch of it on video, so look for that very soon.

In the meantime, we are just a few days way from the release of our brand-new studio album we've been diligently working on for the past year, Around These Parts. This one is going to be special, folks. A lot of talented people put a lot of hard work into this, and from a songwriting standpoint I can honestly say that this ranks among the finest stuff the guys and I have ever written and recorded. I will share more details over the weekend, including sneak previews, pre-sale info, tracklisting, etc., but until then, all you need to know is that on Sunday, November 23, we will make our debut at Atwood's Tavern in Cambridge, MA, and celebrate the release of Around These Parts. This will be the very first time the new album will be available for purchase, so this is a very big deal for us. We are playing two sets starting at 9pm on the nose, and it's only $5 to get in. Not to mention, Atwood's is one of the finest venues to see roots/Americana music in this fine city of ours. So mark your calendars and come join us on Sunday, November 23!

See you there!

Andy & JH

Jo Henley Live at The Spire is HERE!


UPDATE: Our brand-new Jo Henley Live at The Spire record is HERE. Those of you who ordered a pre-sale copy, it has been mailed and should be at your doorstep any day now, if it hasn't arrived already.

We will have copies on sale for the first time at our our Jo Henley Live at The Spire CD release party, which will be take place on Friday, November 7 at, appropriately enough, The Spire. (Visit their website and reserve your tickets today!) It was a pleasure to work with Mark Bryant again, who recorded and produced it, and we are all really excited to share it with the world.

Here is the track list:


Inside Out
The Fire
Gonna Make it Right
Bayley-Hazen Road
Save the Last Dance for Us
Clinton's Ditch
Holly
Mohawk > Over the Pine Plains
Promised Paradise
Voyeur Love
Sad Songs and Alcohol

You can order Jo Henley Live at the Spire on CD for $15, which includes shipping, and which also comes with an immediate digital download. Or, if you prefer just a digital download, you can purchase it for $10 on our Music page.

In celebration of the occasion, click below for a free download of "The Fire." We hope to see you all there at our CD Release Show on Friday, November 7!!!

Enjoy!!!