First off, I just saw this in Rory's YouTube channel so I didn't get it to you sooner. However, Follow Rory Feek on his FB page to keep up with all the livestreams. I also encourage you to follow his YouTube Channel for great stories and adventures with him and Indiana.
Very seldom
do I use the Out of the Chute to
talk about someone who is no longer with us. As I listened to the music of Tim
Henderson (CD collection review coming tomorrow) I realized that he is with us.
Tim Henderson was a songwriter who like Towns Van Zandt, his influence lives on
in many songwriters today.
In a phone
call to Tim one night, Towns is quoted as saying “I just felt like talking to the best songwriter I know.” Richard
Dobson referred to an endorsement from Towns Van Zandt as a ‘gold standard’.
Tim had a
way of pushing boundaries with his lyrics without insulting folks. He made them
think - told things like they were. “I keep trying to think of a more
purely representative American Songwriter than Tim Henderson… “ ~Tom Paxton
Born in West
Virginia, his lyrics reflect a lot of his Appalachian heritage, yet he could
belt songs such as La Dona Maria, the Spanish dialect rolling from his tongue
while he was Texas/ Americana through and through. You will also hear a
Scottish influence in his vocals and lyrics, something he probably picked up as
a young boy, listening to his grandmother play Scottish and Wales folk music on
her mountain dulcimer. But his biggest influences, like all songwriters, came
from his life. The places and people he experienced from his early years, to
his military service and various jobs into adulthood all became fodder for the
songs he would write. Quoting Townes, “His
songs are soulful and solid, sprung from the soil of Texas. Sometimes witty,
always wise. Never showy or shallow.” That’s LIFE!
Tim was
honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Academy of Texas Music in
2011 for his “timeless contributions to Texas music”. TMA founder, Lucky
Boyd is quoted, “Any songwriter’s clinic
should include a study of Henderson’s songs. As a mainstay of Texas music,
Henderson will be touted as a historically significant component throughout the
annals of lone star lore.”
“Tim was a joy to be around. He was always
happy, always up, always joyous, always carrying around his wonderful songs
which he would sing with that special passion of his anywhere, anytime. I miss
him a lot.” ~W.C. Jameson
When Tim
performed at the Woody Guthrie Memorial Festival in Tulsa with Pete Seeger,
Pete would later remark about the ‘spiritual
evocation of Texas’ Tim brought to his ballads.
Tomorrow I’ll
talk about a 6-CD compilation released in 2016. Artists all across Texas came
together for a tribute to a man who taught them so much through his
songwriting.
In the mean time, here's a glimpse into this man's amazing talent - courtesy of TexasOutlawVideos:
