Member Since: 5/16/2006
Band Website: helenhenderson.net
Band Members: "Don't push it , don't put nothin in it unless you feel it, it'll go up by itself"
Nina Simone.
Influences: My mother played the cello and sang, and my Uncle Alex Lindsay was an accomplished classical violinist and conductor of the New Zealand National Orchestra, so my background at home was classical. I joined the school choir and learned to sing there and sang along with songs on the radio. All of my older sisters were into rock and roll and pop music.
Growing up in a small town in New Zealand we listened to the radio a lot, and the rock and roll music I heard there just blew me away, well actually it saved my life.
It gave me somewhere to go, it gave me goosebumps all over my body. Rock and roll became the drug of my choice. It really was all about the music.
There is so much music in Southland, in fact New Zealand at large.
It was what we did, small pubs, local church halls, we hung out listened to local bands and danced all night long. The radio ruled and on the sunday request session they played everyone from Elvis, to Patsy Cline and Hank Williams, to Irish traditional songs. It is a rural population, I guess that is how some of that country music seeped into my veins. I loved Motown and Soul Music and later Reggae, partly because of the Maori and South Pacific influences in New Zealand. I like folk music, songs that tell stories. Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Chrissie Hynde, Van Morrison, Marianne Faithful, Ray Lamontagne, Emmylou Harris, Rickylee Jones, Steve Earl. The Beatles, and the Stones, The YardBirds, The Who, The Animals, Led Zeppelin, The Small faces , Traffic, Blind Faith , Nick Drake , The Byrds, David Crosby, The Allman Brothers, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Sandy Denny, Joan Armatrading, Annie Lennox , The Band, Tom Petty, The Eagles, Bob marley ,The Beachboys, Jimmy Hendrix, The Cowboy Junkies, Mazzy Star, Cold Play, Norah Jones, Etta james, The Doors, Patsy Cline, Elvis.
Ray Charles , Aretha Franklin, Howling Wolf, Memphis Minnie, Billie Holliday , Muddy Waters.... I heard John Prine first in Australia and that changed me as a songwriter. Here's to Sheryl Crow , Shawn Colvin, Daniel Lanois, Ron Sexsmith, Ben Harper, U2, New Zealands own Split Enz and Crowded House, Dave Dobbyn , Neil and Tim Finn.
These and many more, are the artists that influenced me and I can only aspire to do them justice. I feel lucky to have grown up in New Zealand, a country that listens to and loves such a wide range of music.
Sounds Like: You figure that out .
Type of Label: Indie