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check out the song samples in the Archives. David is a past Featured Artist.

Well, here it goes. But First, Congratulations on your new CD! There's no question that you're a gifted player!

Thank you very much.

I was absolutely blown away. I think my favorite cut is Down On The Ground. I'm telling you. It gave me chills man! It brought me to a place only a few Blues players have taken me.

Yea this one is from the heart...believe me! I am Internet tech exec refugee! ;-) But thanks, I really appreciate that! If I can move people with my music, then I consider that a huge success!

The song Miss Jane also reached me. But for a different reason. Your vocal phrasing was reminiscent of the late great Lowell George. And he was one of my first Guitar heroes. And I always loved his voice. It complimented his playing.

Lowell moved me in a huge way when I was a kid! He is one of the most soulful singers in rock history...one of my all time favs...I am a huge feat fan! With Lowell it was always from the heart!

Which I think also applies to your voice? You seem to be able to adapt to the different styles you play. Between miss jane, down on the ground and high and dry. You cover the full spectrum and sound a little different on each one.

Yea.. I have been singing and playing seriously a very long time. I have seriously studied many styles from rock, jazz, blues, country, and everything in between. Over the past, I'd say 5 years or so, I have really rediscovered the music...kind of be reborn....

OK Let's Start This Thing......

1) I read on your site that you actually gave up playing about 17 yrs. ago, and joined the big business world. But now you're back to playing and writing. Was this a conscious decision? I mean did you sit down one day and say I'm gonna get back into playing? Or did it just come back about naturally?

It just sort of happened naturally. No great revelation.... It was '95/ '96. The Internet was coming of age and affecting everything. There was this incredible feeling of revolution, creativity and total optimism. Boy do I miss those days! I was right in the middle of the revolution in NY city building DoubleClick. Music fit right in with the techno geek thing. My guitar sat right in my office and we would rent a rehearsal studio every couple of weeks and just go jam to chill out. I just fell in love with music all over again!

2) Are any of the songs on the new CD, songs you had from the early years?

No, everything was written in this millennium. Back in the 80's I was trying to write top 40 hits. Today I just let the music flow out regardless of any commercial aspirations. I just write what I hear in my head and feel in my heart. What ever comes out just comes out. Sometimes it's blues, sometimes rock, sometimes jazz, or sometimes combinations of all three.

3) I've been a big Robben Ford for years. I noticed you have pictures and links to Robben on your site. Is there an affiliation there? Or just helping out a fellow blues player? And has he had the pleasure to experience your music?

No, there is no official affiliation. I have been a huge Robben fan since "The Inside Story" days. Robben is a huge influence and inspiration! His music and playing really move me. Always has! I use to catch him live at the Baked Potato in LA back in the early 80's. I have the photos on my site just as a public service to the Robben online community. Most of photos are from Robben fans who attended a show, took some photos, but had no place to post them. As far as Robben ever hearing my music, I doubt it. My music has only Internet distribution at this point. From what I understand, he Robben is not much of a computer guy.

4) Who are your acoustic blues influences? Because every now and then you hit me with something that sounds like it should have come out of Robert Johnson's closet. Very roots and current at the same time.

Well, there you go. Robert Johnson is a huge influence! Let's see, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell, and many other Delta players. I really get off on the intensity that the original delta players could create with just their voice and a guitar. It's an extremely intense and spiritual music! That's what intrigues me about it - that intensity! I love that music and it's fascinating to understand the history of how it started and how it evolved.

5) Who among today's players move you?

That would be Robben Ford, Michael Landau, Scott Henderson, Eric Johnson, and Jimmy Herring.

6) This is a question I plan to ask everyone. If you could perform with anyone, living or dead. Who would it be and why?

Steely Dan is my dream gig! Absolutely killer tunes that are innovative and challenging on multiple levels - lyrically, musically and intensity. Not to mention incredibly tasty guitar parts originally created and recorded by legendary studio musicians. It's the ultimate guitar gig!
Second would be the Allman Brothers Band. I cut my teeth on that black Filmore East LP - Duane, Dickey and the whole band just rocking to their Miles and Coltrane influenced blues rock. That was like '70/ '71. Can you believe that!

7) I hear a real heavy jazz influence in some of your music. Sometime it seems like your phrasing is less guitar like and more maybe horn styled. Is it just me or do your jazz influences extend beyond simply just the guitar? Great job on the synth solo on "For You For Me," A deliberate example of this style.

Thank you very much! I have worked very hard on this over the years! I studied jazz at Berklee in Boston in the early 80's and spent a lot of time listening too, transcribing and playing a lot of jazz. I have many jazz influences and not just guitar players - Charlie Parker, Dizzy, Miles, Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Oscar Petterson, Art Tatum, Sonny Rollins to name a few. The main jazz guitarists would be Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, George Benson and Pat Metheny. My phrasing comes from trying to play melodically what I am hearing in my head and not letting my instrument dictate what I play.

8) You Play in the Henderson Brothers Band with your brother Jon and others. As well as playing in the Shelby Lynn Johnson Band. So You know plenty of musicians. Why record the new CD alone? Convenience? Control? That being asked. I don't think a band could have done it any better. You truly are a one man band. I was just curious.

That's good question! The true answer is the limitations of my home studio. At the time, I did not have the ability to record a whole band or even just the rhythm section simultaneously (bass, drums, and guitar). It was basically one part at a time. Now over the past year I have been expanding my gear (Mics, V-Drums, Headphone monitoring system) and on my next CD I will be bringing in other players. Trust me it is much easier having a real drummer just play rather then me programming or playing one drum at a time. On the other hand, I play guitar, bass and guitar synth and am very much into the digital recording technology. So creating all the parts is not really that hard. It just takes time.

9) As long as we're talking about "one man band," You also did all the studio work yourself. Done like a true veteran of the studio. Is this something you've been working with for years? Or a newly acquired talent since your return to music?

Well, I am a huge tech head. I love PCs, the Internet, gadgets, etc. The studio is just another technology for me.
To answer your question. I had a lot of analog recording experience in my early career. I have just evolved that to the digital age over the past 5 years or so. I spend a lot of time working with the technology. I am in my home studio every day.

10) I know you play all the instruments on your new CD. How many instruments do you play? And was guitar the first?

No, actually bass was first. Today I play guitar, slide guitar in many tunings, bass, lap steel, banjo, guitar synth, drums and minimal keyboards. But I am also pretty good at programming and editing midi software sequencers. So with that pallet, I can paint almost any musical picture I can image.

11) You play in the Henderson Brothers Band with your brother. And you play in the Shelby Johnson Band. Do you do plan to assemble a band to play the new CD material? Or will that be played as part of the HBB?

The plan is to assemble a new band to focus on performing my originals. The challenge right now is material. Right now I am well underway on my next CD. I have about 20 new tunes in progress. Once my next CD is done, I will have enough material to start the David Henderson band and play my original music. I am hoping to finish the CD by late summer to early fall and get the band up and running buy the end of the year.

12) This is where I say Any last thoughts? Or anything you wish I touched on?

What really gets me excited today is the deep communication thing with music. Special musicians like Hendrix, Miles, Lowell, Coltrane, SRV, all the Delta and Chicago blues guys and guys today like Michael Landau, Robben Ford and Scott Henderson are able to communicate something from deep inside their souls that transcends time, space and even consciousness. These artists take the listeners someplace else with their music on a different level of communication. That's what I attempt to do these days...If you can feel it, then I'm moving in the right direction. It's not about the chops or a hit tune or anything like that. It's about making someone feel what you feel in your heart....that's real music...at least to me.

Thank you for your interest in my music. I truly appreciate it!

And... Please check out my latest release "For You For Me." Details at my web site www.dhenderson.com!

That's it....I'd like to thank you for doing my first interview. Not only are you an incredible guitarist. But you've got guts.....THANKS! Hokey

the fantastic new CD by David Henderson