Nostalgically Cathartic

Group pulls album off the shelf for new release

Nearly two-and-a-half years ago, guitarist John Henry and a few of his friends recorded an album. But when Henry and percussionist Brennan Johnson started finding success and a busy schedule with The Squarshers, as bassist Tom Andersen and banjo player Adams Collins did with their group Arkansauce, John Henry & Friends and the album they recorded was set on the shelf. Now, the band is getting back together for a release show at George’s Majestic Lounge to finally share with the world the album that is so personal to Henry.

“I was feeling creatively stifled. I didn’t feel like I was writing that many songs [and that] the songs I was writing were maybe not as good,” Henry says. “Artistically, I was just going through this slump. And whether it’s valid or not, I came to believe it was because I needed to release this album that had not yet been released.”

So far, that decision to revisit an older project has proven to be a good one for Henry. Many of the songs on the album were written around the time Henry learned his mother was incredibly ill, and then as he was dealing with her eventual passing. Though not all the songs delve into that difficult material — there’s a “fun, silly” tune about a real instance when Henry’s wife was at work and he devoured a whole pan of cornbread she made — revisiting the emotional state he was in when he wrote the tunes has been “nostalgically cathartic” for Henry.

“Processing those things in retrospect is an interesting thing to do. And it’s one of those things I think everyone has to go through; I don’t think [there’s anyone who] doesn’t have a grieving process,” Henry shares.

“I would hope even if just one person is able to see that these emotions and feelings they might be having that are really tough to deal with, at the very, very least, they’re not alone and they’re not the only person that has gone through this and there’s someone out there to talk to. Maybe that’s why I’ve been so open about the whole thing is that I really believe very strongly that any number of emotional and chaotic and imposing things can happen to someone and that it’s OK to express how they feel about that. And in fact, not just OK, I think it’s important.”

Courtesy Photo Members of local string jamgrass/Americana bands The Squarshers and Arkansauce team up as John Henry & Friends for an album release show March 22 at George’s.