Did stoic singer/songwriter Joe Henry—like many folks—find himself shivering in mortality-minded fear when the coronavirus clamped down on humanity in March of 2020? Sorry, the triple-Grammy-winning folk-rock veteran sighs—been there, done that. To the point where, at 62, he had nothing left to fear but fear itself., a spur-of-the moment collection of demos he’d recorded with friends that sounded so strong he released it, as is.
Even so, his life philosophy has shifted dramatically. Or, as he sagely put it now, as he releases a resonant, reflective pandemic-sculpted followup, “: “We are called to live robustly in the face of knowing that we will not always. So what my health journey offered me was a very conscious awakening to the fact that my story has always been unwritten, and now feels newly unwritten.
When he first learned of the disease while residing in Pasadena (he’s since moved to the more remote wilds of Maine, his wife Melanie Ciccone, Madonna’s sister, sat the artist down for a serious talk. No matter how much time he had left, what, exactly did he want to do with the rest of his life? She asked him, earnestly. There was no time—or reason—to be depressed; If touring fed his soul, he should get back out and do it, as soon as lockdown allowed.
. Then, aided by music-biz chums like Patrick Warren, Daniel Lanois, Lisa Hannigan, The Milk Carton Kids, and his son Levon on saxophone and clarinet, he composed 13 gorgeous studies of our human condition, circa 2020-21, plus “Red Letter Day,” a cut expressly written for the upcoming film.