Joe Henry's 'The Gospel According to Water' Out Now
By: Sarah Jae Leiber Dec. 04, 2019
Joe Henry's The Gospel According To Water is out now via earMUSIC.
Recorded over two days this past June, the songs stemmed from Henry's cancer diagnosis last fall. Henry says, "These recordings are raw and wirey and spare because the songs insisted they be. But I believe them to be as wholly realized--as 'produced'--as anything I've touched, as well as being deeply and fundamentally romantic: in love with life, even when that life founders and threatens to disappear; lustfully aglow, not in spite of the storm but because of one."
In celebration of the new album, Henry has confirmed new live dates in the U.S. including a conversation moderated by Scott Goldman followed by a performance at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on December 12, and stops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco, with more U.S. and European dates to come. See below for full schedule. As previously noted, he will perform at the Big Ears Festival March 26-29 with Joe Henry's 115th Dream all star line up: Jason Moran and Marc Ribot with Jay Bellerose, Dave Piltch and Levon Henry.
Praise for The Gospel According To Water:
"These are simple, wise and sonically gorgeous songs."-Rosanne Cash
"The Gospel According To Water-deep and beautifully moving. A masterful
artist, we need Joe Henry's voice. Listen carefully. Listen closely. There is a spirit
here. Let it speak to you."-Lucinda Williams
"Here is the voice of a friend and brother who had been away too long.
There is enough anger, enough misery in the world. Too many tears, fires and trampled
flowers, so make room in your life for some beauty like this."-Elvis Costello
"My good friend Joe Henry is releasing his new album-The Gospel According To
Water-on November 15th. I heard him sing his new songs in a set at LA's Largo a few
months ago, and was astounded, moved and inspired by these songs."-Jackson Browne
"All hail - my friend Joe Henry's new album, The Gospel According To Water.
He's asked some friends to each debut one song and I've chosen: 'In Time for Tomorrow (Funeral For Sorrow),' which I truly love. It's an extraordinary album, with songs in part inspired by his recent serious health crisis. I think you'll be as moved as I am by the sheer beauty, wisdom and eloquence throughout."-Bonnie Raitt
"'The Fact of Love'-here's a new song from @JoeHenryMusic that I'd like
for you to listen to. Beautifully performed and recorded. Really interesting guitar
playing and a smart and tender lyric."-Jason Isbell
"I love Joe Henry. Fi and I have loved hanging with him in Ireland and at our
home in the US. This is an important record. Joe is an important writer and producer.
'Book of Common Prayer'... a beautiful song and a timely song. Congrats on the new
album The Gospel According to Water."-John Prine
"I'm here to speak for the track 'Bloom'-a perfectly Joe Henry song that at no point
contains the word 'I'. It's a solitary journey, and others might retreat into themselves in the
telling of it, but Joe holds out a hand with 'we.' Beautiful."-Hugh Laurie
"I'm excited to premiere my pal Joe Henry's song 'Gates of Prayer Cemetery #2' from
his forthcoming album The Gospel According to Water."-Ben Harper
"Give a listen to this brilliant track, 'Salt and Sugar,' from Joe Henry's album-The
Gospel According To Water (Joe produced my last album). His inimitable style/raw
beautiful lyrics make this entire body of music a wonder to behold."-Joan Baez
JOE HENRY LIVE
December 12
Los Angeles, CA
GRAMMY Museum
February 20
Minneapolis, MN
The Dakota
February 22
Chicago, IL
Old Town School of Folk Music
February 23
Ann Arbor, MI
The Ark
March 26-29
Knoxville, TN
Big Ears Festival
April 7
Portland, OR
Mississippi Studios
April 8
Seattle, WA
Triple Door
April 10
San Francisco, CA
The Chapel
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO WATER TRACKLIST
1. Famine Walk
2. The Gospel According To Water
3. Mule
4. Orson Welles
5. Green Of The Afternoon
6. In Time For Tomorrow (Funeral For Sorrow)
7. The Fact of Love
8. Book Of Common Prayer
9. Bloom
10. Gates of Prayer Cemetery #2
11. Salt and Sugar
12. General Tzu Names The Planets For His Children
13. Choir Boy
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