After five years of hosting my Joe Henry blog on Typepad, I've decided to move the proceedings to a new site hosted by WordPress. I feel that WordPress has more to offer, from both an administrator standpoint as well as from the readers' view. Further, I felt the time had come to retire the "houstonramblings" site name, itself a relic from my early days of blogging. As such, you can find the new site at the new location, simply named: joehenryblog.com Much of the sidebar content on the old blog has now been ported to menus and pages on the... Continue reading

So as I was loading up my iPod for the trip to Durham, I stumbled upon a wonderful podcast interview with JH. The Compared To What Podcast is the brainchild of musicians Charlie Hunter and Mocean Worker, and in this conversation between Mocean and JH, they touch upon a variety of topics, including (but by no means limited to) their shared love of Richard Pryor. Honestly, this is one of the best interviews I've ever heard with JH so do not hesitate to check it out (direct link, iTunes link). Continue reading

Duke University's Independent Daily has a little more backstory on this week's Wild Edges performance at the Hayti Center in Durham, as well as some information on what may happen with the live recordings. Also, check out Karin and Linford's photo feed for some behind-the-scenes pictures of this week's rehearsals. Continue reading

Well, it's Wild Edges week, as Joe Henry, The Milk Carton Kids and Over The Rhine convene in Durham, NC, for two consecutive nights sure to filled with mystery and wonder. The shows are now sold out, but you can read about the event here (and yes, I'll be attending so look for a recap next week). In the meantime, you can check out a clip from The Milk Carton Kids' upcoming DVD release Live From Lincoln Theatre. The show will be released on April 29, as a standalone DVD, deluxe bundle with The Ash & Clay or a digital... Continue reading

Joe Henry will release his eagerly anticipated new album Invisible Hour on June 3 (on his own label Work Song). You can read a bit about the record and hear a premiere of the new track "Lead Me On" at the Los Angeles Times (or see bottom of this post). UPDATE: And, of course, no album release would be complete without a few introductory words from JH himself: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN My new album that stands trembling upon your threshold, Invisible Hour, is my 13th as a solo artist. It represents plenty to me beyond sheer endurance; and... Continue reading

JH has announced a string of tour dates in North America, starting at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on June 20. On June 21, he will celebrate the release of Invisible Hour (due June 3) with two sets at Largo in Los Angeles. The first set will be perfromed solo and the second with his band. Tickets are available for each set separately, or purchased as a package for both sets. You can find the full deck of tour dates at JH's website. Dates below... June 20: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco June 21: Largo, Los... Continue reading

JH has quietly announced a tour of Europe in 2014, kicking off on May 28 in London. Dates posted here, and here... May 28, Purcell Room, London GB June 4, Teatro Lara, Madrid ES June 5, Luz de Gas, Barcelona ES June 6, Escenario Santander, Santander ES June 7, Niemeyer Club, Aviles ES June 9, People’s Palace, Amsterdam NL June 10, Handelsbeur, Ghent BE June 11, DR Koncerthus, Copenhagen DK June 12, BergenFest, Bergen NO Continue reading

Just a few activities of note to keep you JH fans excited: Based on Joe's Facebook postings last week, it would appear that the Johnny Cash Bitter Tears project has commenced recording. According to JH, visitors to Garfield House included Kris Kristofferson, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Rhiannon Giddens (from Carolina Chocolate Drops). The live session from KEXP in December has made the rounds on NPR's website, and "Swayed" (one of the new songs from the upcoming Invisible Hour) is available for download as a video podcast. JH joined a host of wonderful aritsts at The Troubadour in LA for... Continue reading

JH will team with Over The Rhine and The Milk Carton Kids for a very unique event in April, performing at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC. From The Milk Carton Kids' website: "In April, the band will join forces with friends for their new project Wild Edges. In collaboration: Joe Henry, Over The Rhine and The Milk Carton Kids. The result is a one-of-a-kind ensemble set to engage the "Great American Songbook," performing a set of songs that embraces songwriters from Robert Johnson to Jimmy Webb, Woody Guthrie to Nina Simone. The all-star group unites for an only-at-Duke... Continue reading

JH stopped by the Seattle studios of KEXP while winding up his recent mini-tour. The December 7 acoustic performance will give you some idea of what his recent concerts were like. Even better, he plays two new songs ("Swayed" and "Plainspeak") from the forthcoming Invisible Hour. (Photos from the session here.) I think Joe Henry fans are in for an exciting 2014! Continue reading

Billboard has an interview and some details about JH's new record, Invisible Hour. Significantly, the album will not be released by Anti- but through some alternative distribution model, hopefully around April of 2014. The article also mentions the upcoming project related to Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears. Continue reading

Jason Verlinde from Fretboard Journal reports in from JH's recent solo show in Seattle. He also sheds some light on one of Joe's newer guitar acquisitions, an ARK New Era Senorita. Continue reading

Loyal JH fan and reader John R. passes along this bit of exciting news from the Chicago Sun-Times. In the meantime, JH is winding his way through his handful of acoustic dates right now, stopping in Ann Arbor tonight. Continue reading

Well, we've had several nights in the 50's here in Houston, which must mean the rest of you in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying between seasonal and frigid conditions. As such, I apologize for the lack of posts recently and hope this will catch you up on a few recent JH happenings. Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him, by David Henry and Joe Henry, has just been released by Algonquin Books. The hardcover recently shipped and the e-book should be out any day now. Brothers David and Joe will be doing a few signings around the... Continue reading

{Ed. note: Once again, writer and critic Josh Hurst has generously offered up a review for the site, this time for Over The Rhine's sprawling double CD Meet Me At The Edge Of The World. Many thanks to him for the letting us enjoy it here...} Long before we knew anything else about Over the Rhine’s 2013 LP—before we (or they, possibly) knew that it was a double album, before we knew that its songs would be harvested and preserved in a South Pasadena basement studio, before we even knew that it would arrive in our mailboxes in 2013—we were... Continue reading

Joe Henry produced it. You should go buy it. Then there's this... The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive Continue reading

Linford Detweiler of Over The Rhine spoke with Paste about the upcoming double album, Meet Me At The Edge Of The World (produced by JH; due Sep. 3). You can also listen to the Track #3 from the record "Sacred Ground." However, in more exciting news, fans who funded the record have received shipping notices that their packages are on the way. So you should start hearing a collective murmur of excitement from OtR fans over the next days! Continue reading

British duo Chas & Dave (Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock) will release their first album of new material in 27 years. The album will revisit some of their early work as well and feature guest spots by Albert Lee and Hugh Laurie. And, of course, Joe Henry produced the entire affair. Okay, Brits, fill me in -- I'm entirely unfamiliar with the work of Chas & Dave. Can't wait to hear it. It's due October 28. You can pre-order via Amazon UK here and read more about the record in The Guardian. UPDATE: Great preview of the new record, featuring... Continue reading

This fall will see the release of a very intriguing 2-disc compilation of Civil War-era tunes, recorded by some fantastic artists. Joe Henry will contribute "Aura Lee" -- and maybe some production work on the other tracks? Read more about Divided & United and hear Loretta Lynn's contribution here. UPDATE: A bit more info (from The Man himself): "Aura Lee" features 3-part harmony courtesy of The Milk Carton Kids JH also lends production duties to tracks by Taj Mahal, John Doe, Carolina Chocolate Drops and Chris Hillman (plus assistance on the Sam Amidon track) And in a neat twist, JH... Continue reading

Sorry I'm a little tardy with my recap of the JH solo show at Largo last week. Joe Henry shows are a relative rarity in general, as his touring has been fairly limited over the past decade. The Largo show was billed as his first entirely solo performance of his career, making the event perhaps a bit more special to lucky fans in attendance. Certainly I'm sure I'll never see another concert where Orson Welles' Touch of Evil was projected on the rear stage curtains for much of the evening. It was that sort of show. The record and tour... Continue reading

Just a quick reminder that JH will be performing at Largo in Los Angeles tomorrow, July 19 (Friday, 9pm). This will be the first entirely solo performance of his career. Details and tickets here. I'll be there -- look for a report next week. Continue reading

Hugh Laurie's latest JH-produced album Didn't It Rain will get a very welcome release in the U.S. and Canada on August 6. Pre-order information here. Read the recent review by guest blogger Josh Hurst here. Continue reading

Just a quick note... Over The Rhine sent out their July newsletter last weekend and announced that the key players on their new JH-produced album - Jennifer Condos, Jay Bellerose and Eric Heywood - will be joining them on tour in the fall. Any time you can catch Over The Rhine or any of these fantastic musicians is a rare treat. Seeing them together is a must-not-miss event. Tour dates here (starting in September to promote Meet Me At The Edge Of The World, due Sep. 3). Continue reading

[Ed. note: Josh Hurst has written often and eloquently about the work of Joe Henry (he is prominently linked in the "Essential Reading" column of this blog). From my perspective, Josh is the world's foremost authority on all things JH. About a year ago, he ceased maintenance of his wonderful music review blog, The Hurst Review. So it is my great honor to present his extensive review for Hugh Laurie's new record Didn't It Rain (released in the UK in May and hopefully in the US very soon). Many thanks to Mr. Hurst for the contribution - enjoy!] ............................................................................................................................. Hugh... Continue reading

You may recall that Joe Henry has played a significant role in a string of vinyl and digital releases benefitting ex-Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap. JH and much of his regular wrecking crew have already contributed to tracks by Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams. The latest Songs For Slim release features not only two JH productions but a track by Joe himself. Here's the description from the SFS website: This month we’re excited to announce a single with fantastic tracks from Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers and Joe Henry. Dylan and his crack band of A-list LA session players (Jennifer Condos,... Continue reading