The Essential Holly Henderson
The true significance of UK singer, songwriter, guitarist, Holly Henderson first came to the attention of legendary guitarist, writer, and producer, Pete Thorn (Chris Cornell, Melissa Etheridge, Courtney Love, and Don Henley) after hearing demos the 23 year old Londoner had recorded. Using only a couple of guitars, a small practice amp, a few pedals and an aging Mac laptop running Garage Band, Henderson radiated such brilliantly unique musical instincts that Thorn was convinced there had to be a proper, full length Holly Henderson album…and that he should produce it.
The recently released Monday Green on the Trend and Chaos label, confirms that both Holly and Pete’s instincts were dead-on. The 10 song collection, recorded in Los Angeles and featuring contributions from drummer Blair Sinta (Alanis Morissette, Stevie Nicks), bassist Jon Button (The Who, Sheryl Crow), keyboardist Jebin Bruni (Liz Phair, Fiona Apple) and keyboardist Dennis Martin (Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi) showcases Holly’s diverse range - from lush, beautiful ballads, to melt your face off alterna-pop anthems - all featuring intricate guitar work by Henderson.
In the process of establishing guitar tracks (a couple of which Thorn imported directly from those home demos) Holly became acquainted with one of her producer’s favorite acoustics, a Takamine TF77-PT a solid cedar topped, solid Hawaiian Koa back and sides OM that she ended up recording with - as documented in a photo of Holly tracking with the Tak in Thorn’s classic echo chamber ;). That photo is now the cover of Monday Green.
Deciding she needed a Takamine of her own, Holly consulted directly with Takamine and concluded the new CP3NY-ML was the model for her. But as can often be the case with killer new models, the solid-cedar topped, molasses colored New Yorker-sized gem had sold-out and would be unavailable for several weeks…a virtual eternity in new-guitar time.
But Holly would soon be attending the UK Guitar Show in London - as would be Takamine’s own chief designer Makoto Terasaki. Could Makoto possibly acquire a P3NY-ML from the factory and present it to Holly at the show? It was a long shot for a couple of reasons. The Takamine factory showed no available P3NY-ML either…and the UK Guitar show was only 10 days away.
Nonetheless, the challenge was issued to Makoto, who in addition to being Takamine’s chief designer, is also their longtime director of Artist Relations - and everyone knows making guitars appear out of nowhere is what artist relations does. Still, Holly was advised not to expect her P3NY-ML anytime soon.
Holly did attend the UK Guitar Show and did visit the beautiful Takamine booth compliments of longtime Takamine partner and UK Distributor Korg UK (Thank you Alan Scally) and Makoto did make the trip from Japan - with guitar case in hand.
So wrap your ears around Monday Green here and see if you don’t agree with Pete Thorn that Holly Henderson is an essential creative force to be reckoned with.
You can stream and purchase Monday Green here now.
UK alternative singer and guitarist, Holly Henderson, released her debut full-length, Monday Green, on Trend & Chaos. The ten songs on the album showcase Holly’s diverse range – from lush, beautiful ballads to melt your face off alterna-pop anthems – all featuring intricate guitar work by Henderson. Lead single “Loneliness” borrows heavily from Holly’s Britpop influences, while “We Sold The Earth” explores more experimental, prog-rock leaning sounds. The album comes to a close with “Frantic”, a track that lives in a category all to itself as it slowly builds into a combination of rich vocal melodies and striking guitars. Lyrically, Henderson releases her emotions and vulnerabilities through both self-realization and their correlation to the world around her.
On the album, Holly Henderson stated:
“The name “Monday Green” is a vaguely ironic play on words of ‘Mondegreen’, a misunderstood or misinterpreted word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of the lyrics of a song. I knew even if I was really stark with my lyrics, or really abstract, it wouldn’t matter. People were going to have their own ideas, regardless of what my ego would want to get out of it. Every song is an extension of a thought, whether it was about the environment, my relationships or current affairs.
Musically, the album was a huge leap forward in the overall development of my sound. I went from recording demos at home through the built-in mic on my Mac, to a studio that had every toy imaginable and the chance to record with a group of people who have built their careers on crafting great songs.”
