I ’ ve been just pouring out , preparing messages or leading staff … to get back in the studio is refreshing to me . It ’ s the breath , you know what I mean ? So , yeah . I love it and am still figuring it all out .
[ WM ] Yeah . Let ’ s talk about some of your studio tools . We like guitars a lot in our magazine . What guitars have you got ?
[ Henry ] I am a Strat guy . I have a few U . S . Strats . I have actually a couple of 2012 Strats that for whatever reason , I ’ ve found a couple , they ’ re all from 2012 and they all just play probably the best that I ’ ve ever found . I love them . They ’ re my main guitars . But I also have a Gretsch Sparkle Jet . I have a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top . I ’ ve got a Martin CEO- 7 acoustic . But Strats are my favorite guitars to play .
[ WM ] How about for keyboards , what are you using you ?
[ Henry ] Most everything ’ s in the box now in the computer . We have the Nord Stage pianos at church and they ’ re a great controller . I have a few different controllers that I use here in the studio , but I ’ m the kind of person that I ’ ll make music in a garage , in my kitchen , on the plane , in my studio . I ’ ve just learned to improvise over the years . So anything that ’ s available I ’ ll use .
[ WM ] Cool . You mentioned something about your church staff . You built up quite a staff now and again , coming from an artist and a worship leader ’ s point of view … now have this administrative role too . Your staff has really grown . Where do those administrative chops come from for you ?
[ Henry ] Listen , just surround yourself with good people . Is all I ’ m going to say . ( laughing )
[ WM ] All right . I like that .
[ Henry ] We ’ ve definitely been intentional about building our staff . My wife and I both worked on and off of church staffs for over 20 years . We ’ ve been probably 25 years now . So , we ’ ve seen some amazing things , had some great examples , learned a lot of what to do and then some of what not to do . We ’ re not perfect leaders , but we ’ ve really tried to be aware of what to learn and what to know along the way . I ’ m not afraid to ask questions . I really value our team . I ’ m so thankful for the team that we have . Somebody once said , “ If you ’ re the smartest one in the room , then you ’ re in the wrong room ”. I want to be like that . And I know a lot , I love to learn , but I also want to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am . I ’ m not afraid of that .
I mean , I ’ ve told my staff in our church too . I don ’ t need to be the best preacher on our staff . I don ’ t need to be the best teacher on our staff .
God ’ s going to bring us to the right people . I want to be the best that I can , but I ’ m also not intimidated if there are people that are much better at things . I know my place , I know what God ’ s called me to do . We ’ re really digging into that place of just honoring the people that you ’ re with , whether you are leading them or being led by them . If you can learn to honor people , then I think it creates and establishes a safe environment for people . And that ’ s really what we ’ ve tried to achieve .
[ WM ] Good . I love hearing that Pastor . The readers of [ WM ] are worship leaders , worship musicians and tech teams . Tell us about your conference and why people should come ?
[ Henry ] Conference really is a couple of days