Photo By Jenography Photography
JAMES HENRY
James got his start at the age of 17 when he met and was mentored by Houston music legend Jerry Lightfoot and eventually started playing with him. James also began playing the regional blues circuit with Pearl Murray, beginning in 1993. James then formed the band Shadowcasters, who were mainstays on the blues scene from 1993 to 2011 and ultimately released one album, It Takes Time, in 2002.
As part of these bands listed above, James has opened for many major artists over the last 20 years, including: Bobby “Blue” Bland, Ian Moore, Delbert McClinton, Jerry Lacroix, Nick Gravenites, Chris Duarte, Johnny Winter, Pat Travers, Ray Price, Johnny Lee, and Roy Head.Texas blues guitarist James Henry has been called “Houston’s best kept secret” for years. After being a sideman and band member of groups for over two decades, Henry steps out on his own with the 2014 release of his aptly titled debut album, Live Album, on Molken Music. LiveAlbum is a blisteringly intense blues guitar smackdown, recorded at the For the Community Festival 7 at Last Concert Café in Houston, TX (2/22/14). Backing James is rhythm section Thurman Robinson on bass and Mike Morris (of C.J. Chenier fame) on drums.
James Henry’s Live Album is available on randomly-mixed color vinyl LPs and comes with a free download card containing links for the entire album in both CD-res WAV files and 320 kbps MP3 files, album artwork, and an exclusive, bonus ambient track.
James also played guitar for blues artist Steve Krase, filling the guitar spot for the past ten years playing hundreds of shows at clubs and festivals across the U.S. and in Europe as well as playing guitar on the group's three album releases "Easy Living", "Someday", and "Buckle Up" (which reached #3 on the Billboard blues charts). While playing with Steve Krase, James backed up many blues artist such as Trudy Lynn and Big Walter Price "The Thunder Bird". In 2012 James also took home the 2012 “Houston’s Best Guitarist” award in Houston Press. As if all of this wasn’t enough to keep James busy, he also played guitar in the reformed version of Texas psychedelic band, The Golden Dawn, led by George Kinney. (Their lone album was released by International Artists in 1968.)