Buffalo Music: Rochester guitarist brings a lifetime of playing the blues

By Ida Goeckel

(This story first appeared in The Buffalo Hive last month; we’re featuring it again because Son Henry will be playing tonight’s Great American Showcase, Part 1 at Nietzche’s as half of Front Porch Project. The show is a collaboration between the The Buffalo Hive and the Blues Society of Western New York).

On March 18, I returned to my post as live show columnist for the Blues Society of Western New York to cover the WNY Blues 716 series at Sportsmen’s Tavern.

I was not only glad to be back, but glad to have the opportunity to witness the incomparable Son Henry and the Revelators out of Rochester. 

With a 30-year career to his name, Son Henry is no stranger to the blues. Upon doing some initial research online, I discovered that he has lived and toured in a variety of places, not only in the U.S., but in the Europe as well. He was the winner of two British Blues Awards in 2010 and 2011, while living in Scotland. His style is described as a blend of roots, blues and Americana music. With a total of nine albums to his discography, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist is an established artist who is still performing and creating new material.  

His latest albums are “Grace” (2023, a blend of blues and Americana), recorded in Hungary with long-time collaborators, the T. Rogers Blues Band; “Ballad Hunter” (2024, an acoustic roots folk album); and “All Blues 2000-2025” (2025, a Blues anthology spanning his entire career.)

The band played two sets, easing into the night with crowd-pleasing traditional and familiar blues tunes. There was plenty of band banter, engagement with the audience and no end to the tight, funky, and fluid band energy. I noticed that Son Henry smoothly transitioned from slide guitar to lap guitar to an array of six guitars he brought with him that night, demonstrating his finger style playing virtuosity on each.

Depending on the song, Son Henry’s vocals range from a raw, authentic roots style to polished smoothness. He even gave us his best Barry White imitation a couple times during the show for fun.

Throughout the show, he mixed covers and a good dozen of his original tunes, which had storytelling intertwined between the lyrics and the songs. Many of the originals were off his third album “Heartache and Trouble.”  My personal favorite covers were his renditions of “I’d Rather Go Blind” and “Bring It on Home,” where his creative phrasing made them take on a whole new life. The night ended on an original song that everyone could relate to called “Surrounded by Liars, Jackals, Scoundrels and Thieves”.

After the show and I had the opportunity to briefly interact with each of the band members, I then sat down with the silver fox band leader with the long flowing locks, to ask him a few questions.

Q:  First, can you tell me the members of your current lineup and how long you’ve been together?

SH: There’s Rob Huff on drums, Dean Keller on tenor sax, John Tucker on keys and Dan Lopata on bass. We’ve been together about a year.

Q: What started your interest in the blues? Who are your influences? Do you have any mentors?

SH: My parents took me to see B.B. King in 1972 at the U of R Palestra in 1972, and I was totally fascinated. That sparked my interest in the blues and it’s never wavered. I was 11 years old.

I was taking piano lessons at the time, but switched to guitar pretty much right away after that. Most of my influences are Texas players like Tyrone Starks, Sam Myers and Mike Morgan. My mentor was pedal steel guitarist Stu Schulman, who got me interested in lap guitar. Stu played with Delaney & Bonnie and also with Willie Nelson.

Q: What instruments did you start out with? Also, what else can you tell me about your music history? (I had also noted he played finger style on all his instruments)

SH: As far as band history, I started out with my own band in 1995 in Dallas, and played with a band called Blue Lisa and the Howling Dogs, writing many of their songs. We had landed a record contract, but the band broke up before anything transpired.

The Son Henry Band originated in Anchorage, Alaska, in the late 1990s, and I rebuilt it later in Scotland in the early 2000s, and then again in New York starting in 2020.

I picked up slide guitar early on and loved Elmore James and Robert Johnson’s guitar styles. I learned lap guitar while I was living in Alaska, on the exact same one I played tonight, a six-string, with no pedals. At first, I started out trying to figure out Robert Johnson licks on the lap guitar and then, eventually developed my own style. I don’t use finger picks, and I have my own unique way of holding the steel bar. That comes from learning something in isolation, pre-YouTube.

After Scotland, my family moved to Houston and for those 10 years in the 2010s, I mainly played country and Americana, and learned to play pedal steel guitar, mandolin, and fiddle.

The pedal steel is just too heavy to lug around though. I also didn’t bring my dobro with me tonight or the resonator guitar, but I play those a lot in my solo shows.

Q: What new artists are you into?

SH: New artists I love are McKinley James for his guitar playing. I also listen to John Stark, a bandmate from my Houston days.

Q: What are you currently working on/involved in musically?

SH: Currently, I play with the band you heard tonight, the Revelators, which is pure unadulterated blues. I also have the Son Henry Band, which is an Americana band, all original music. I play quite a few solo gigs around Rochester and the Finger Lakes, and I am also working on a duo called The Front Porch Project. We have a new acoustic live album coming out in April, and we’re recording a studio album in May. The Revelators and I host a monthly blues show on the last Thursday of the month at the Record Archive (the Son House blues night, in the Backroom Lounge at the record store) in Rochester and a weekly Sundays Blues Jam at the Main Place Tavern in Rochester. Finally, we are working on a new album for the Revelators band.

It was a true pleasure speaking with this laid back, humble and dedicated artist. It was a real conversation. (Perhaps I talked too much?)

I thought hopefully we can bring him back for another show. At the time I didn’t realize that he would be returning to Buffalo on May 7 to headline the Great American Music Showcase bill at Nietzsche’s, a collaboration between the Blues Society of Western New York and The Buffalo Hive. Keep an eye out for more details!