At that point I made a vow where I praised God
for my first 50 years, but promised to “tear up”
my next 50.
[WM] You’ve also worked quite a bit in Gospel
music. Again, the landscape of your giftings is
deep and wide. You’ve worked with so many
folks including Kirk Franklin, The Winans,
Dorinda Clark-Cole, Darlene Zschech, and
many more. How has your faith in God played a
role in your life and work?
[Henry] Everything I do and think, to the
very music I write, orchestrate, and produce
is centered around who I am as a Christian.
This may sound “cliché-ish,” but I simply can’t
imagine what my life would be like without Christ
in it. Well, I guess can… and that’s a real scary
thought. I was so fortunate to have a group of
college buddies who all were saved around the
same time, some where my fraternity brothers,
some were in the marching band with me, etc.
We formed a bond where we made ourselves
accountable to each other and, and of course,
to God’s word. If one of us was getting out of
line in our spiritual walk or just needed to hear
a strong word from another, we vowed to allow
the council of brotherhood to, if necessary,
correct us in love. We fellowshipped, prayed,
and studied the Word together daily. This
mindset has kept me throughout my adult life,
allowing me to be humble, accountable to my
leaders, my pastors, even many of the stars you
mentioned. And to this day, this is the principle
by which I have to live my life. If not for God,
why bother calling myse
[WM] Our passion fo
but we’ve all witnesse
traditional recording in
for our expression. We
“streaming” revenue m
become the norm. A
current virus pandemi
the collapse of the perfo
aspects of our vocatio
congregational worship
the above, as an educa
would you encourage
songwriters to continue
for their futures despite
two decades?
[Henry] Stevie once to
who are creative will fi
This may sound simple
it is very profound. It h
all of the virtual perfo
such as Zoom. And, in
more artists, listened
experienced all sorts
since the start of the p
But to answer your que
we are encouraging al
faculty to equip themse
with the plethora of av
creating, recording, and
Director of Music Techn
of Alabama at Birming
always viewed our prog
June 2020