Sam Henry (musician)

Sam Henry
Birth name Samuel William Henry
Born December 28, 1956
Origin Portland, Oregon, USA
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Drums
Years active 1970–present
Associated acts Wipers, The Rats, Napalm Beach, Gift, Don't, Jenny Don't & The Spurs

Samuel William Henry (born December 28, 1956) is an American drummer, best known for his work with the punk rock group The Wipers. He was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2011.[1]

Early years

Sam Henry was born in Oregon City, Oregon. Despite being born legally blind, Henry started playing drums at age 7 with the influence of Buddy Rich (whom he met at age 10). He graduated from Rex Putman High in Oak Grove in 1975 and throughout his school years he won multiple musician awards in the school's jazz band, for example at the Reno Jazz Festival. [2]

“ Sam Henry has been drumming in bands in Portland for 4 decades. He has played in The Wipers, The Rats, Napalm Beach, Poison Idea, Snow Bud & The Flower People and Morgan Grace, among others. His bands were a staple at Portland’s legendary Satyricon. Though some may think of Sam as Portland’s quintessential punk drummer, he has also played funk with Shock, 1930s swing jazz with the Stolen Sweets and even country roots music with Michael Dean Damron, as well as most every other genre of music. Sam is also a music instructor giving drum lessons to many up-and-coming musicians. ”

—Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2011[1]

Musical career

The Wipers

Henry played with multiple bands growing up but it wasn't until 1975/76 when he met Greg Sage and Dave Koupal that he formed his first serious band. The trio played for a year or so together before moving to Cape Coral, Florida, and forming what then became become the band The Wipers in 1977, with the original lineup of Sam Henry on drums, Dave Koupal on bass, and Greg Sage on guitar and vocals. According to Henry they had to move out of Portland because the insurgence of the 70's disco left them with no place to play. After moving out of Florida and back to Portland The band recorded and released their first two singles ("Better Off Dead" and "Alien Boy"), as well as their first full length "Is This Real".[3] The band continued to move around the country including making a move to New York, but in 1979 Henry left the band and joined Fred Cole and his wife Toody Cole to play in the pre-Dead Moon band called The Rats.

Napalm Beach

Henry was the drummer in The Rats until 1982 when he left the band and joined Chris Newman and Mark Nelson to play in Napalm Beach. Napalm Beach was Henry's longest running band, playing for over the last decade. [4]

Don't

In 2009 Henry formed the current Portland band "Don't" with Jenny Don't, Dan Lowinger, and David Minick.[5] The group released a full length LP titled "Away, Away" and two 45's on Kelly Halliburton's label "Doomtown Sounds" and one single on the Long Island label "Dead Broke Rekerds". Don't went on tour with Pierced Arrows as direct support for two U.S. tours in 2011 and 2012 and toured Europe in 2013.

Henry and Jenny Don't also joined with Kelly Halliburton to form the roots/alt-country band Jenny Don't and The Spurs. The trio released their first single on Fred Cole's label Tombstone Records.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2011 Inductees". Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
  2. ↑ Kirk, Kurtis (2010) "Sam Henry", Find A Grave, April 14, 2010
  3. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Wipers-Is-This-Real/master/54366
  4. ↑ Meyer, Erika (2013) "Introducing Napalm Beach: The band that taught Seattle how to rock", Beautiful Sun, September 04, 2013
  5. ↑ http://www.dontband.com/

External links