GMP • The Session Diaries - Ep.#02 - Joey Hendrickson

Hometown:  Columbus, OH


Why we love JOEY HENDRICKSON here at GMP:

 
In a lot of ways, Joey is the epitome of why we started Grow Music Project. Here’s an artist that has absolutely beautiful songs, a truly soulful voice and approach to the way he plays guitar, and who has, at a relatively young age, not only written a whole boatload of songs [+150] and played a ton of live shows, but has already founded and organized an association of local songwriters in his home city. He’s also someone who has not, despite all of this hard work, yet been able to afford to get into an actual studio to be able to record a real record. Not that this is stopping him in the least from producing incredibly emotional and beautiful renditions of his songs - our favorite current track of his, “Falling for It” was recorded entirely using his iphone as the sole recording device - as in, the built-in voice mic inside his iphone into the stock voice recorder app. Hearing that song [which is below], that’s actually a little hard to believe - we might actually make him prove it to us when he gets out here - we’ve heard a LOT of “iphone” recordings - and I’ve used mine plenty of times to work up song ideas, as well as employed all sorts of other lo-fi and organic recording techniques. But I can honestly say that I’ve never heard anything that sounds as good as this come from the humble little insides of a cell phone. Hell, we may have to just abandon all the amazing recording gear and mics we have here in the studio, and just use Joey’s damn phone when he gets here.

Why you need to know about JOEY:
 
Once we heard him start singing on "Falling For It", it took us about three seconds to realize that Joey is an artist that needs to be added to everyone’s playlist now. The soulfulness of his voice and the emotion in his lyrics should make millions of people fall in love with him, and provide the soundtrack for at least as many relationships coming together and falling apart, both real and scripted on movie and television screens everywhere. We can’t wait to hear him in person, work with him in the studio, and watch him as his career develops. And we are excited to be able to help that along in every way we can.

- Chris, Grow Music Project Staff
Here's some info about Joey:
 
Joey is one of those singer/songwriters who records, mixes, and produces his own music via laptop.  In 2011, Joey released an acoustic EP called GROW. The five song EP includes live renditions of Chasing You, Foot Prints, Silent Treatment, To Grow, and Chemistry, which were recorded in the subways of Chicago during a Summer busking trip. Parts of the GROW EP were recorded with Joey's iPhone microphone, and all tracks were mixed from headphones during his travels. However, listeners don't seem to mind the raw quality. GROW has received thousands of downloads, and since release, has raised thousands of dollars in support of homeless youth.

Check out "Falling For It" by Joey Hendrickson -
Additional Listening -