Don Henry (musician)

Don Henry
Don Henry, 2024
Background information
Born (1959-12-30) December 30, 1959 (age 64)
San Jose, California
GenresCountry music
Years active1990s–present
LabelsEpic Records
Websitewww.donhenry.com

Don Henry (born December 30, 1959) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His career took off when the Kathy Mattea single "Where've You Been", which he co-wrote with Jon Vezner, won numerous awards in 1990 and 1991.[1] These included the "song of the year" award at the 25th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in 1990,[2] and a Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.[3] He went on to team up with Vezner to write another song, "Whole Lotta Holes", which was also later recorded by Kathy Mattea and released as a single.[4]

In 1991, he released his first solo album, Wild in the Backyard, which was engineered and produced by Ray Kennedy.[5] The album's music was favorably compared to the music of Randy Newman.[6][7][8] The album was also named one of Billboard's top 10 records of 1991.[9] Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Alanna Nash gave the album a B+ grade and described Henry as "One of Nashville’s best young tunesmiths".[8]

He performs with Jon Vezner as The Don Juans; they accompanied Tom Paxton on his 2018 and 2019 UK tours.[10]

  1. ^ Mansfield, Brian. "Don Henry". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  2. ^ "Winners at the 25th Academy of Country Music Awards". UPI. 1990-04-25. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  3. ^ "33rd Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  4. ^ Kening, Dan (1991-09-22). "Kathy Mattea Proves She Learned Her Lessons Well". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  5. ^ "Ray Kennedy Biography". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  6. ^ The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. 2004-12-16. pp. 971–2. ISBN 9780199840441.
  7. ^ Boehm, Mike (1992-04-16). "Musicians Use Gift of Gab in 'Their Own Words'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  8. ^ a b Nash, Alanna (1991-06-07). "Wild in the Backyard". Entertainment Weekly.
  9. ^ "Don Henry to appear in concert". Gadsden Times. 2006-06-21. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  10. ^ Coventry, Joe. "Tom Paxton and the Don Juans:Capstone Theatre, Liverpool: 13th April 2018". Nerve Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2019.