Henry Willard

Henry Willard

Henry Willard, (born 23 January 1988), is an acoustic based, lyric driven British singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.Willard was born in Maidstone, Kent and took up guitar lessons at the age of seven after seeing The Beatles' 'Free as a Bird' music video on the television, and has gradually become proficient at double bass, drums, mandolin, banjo, piano, and electric bass.

He began recording covers at a local studio at the age of eleven, and gained consistent experience of playing in front of large audiences of 300+, with regular performances throughout secondary school.Willard began songwriting at the age of 13, and by the age of 18 had successfully recorded one full length cover album (U.F.P - 2002), one 4-Track E.P. (Cry For a Shadow EP - 2002), & two full length albums consisting entirely of original material (Loss of Temptation - 2004, This One's For Elliott... - 2006).

Experimenting with Beatlesque pop sounds in his early teens, Willard was to discover a wider range of influences over time, which is most noticeable on his latest release to date, 'This One's For Elliott...'.Drawing in inspiration from bands and artists such as Elliott Smith, Everclear, and Barenaked Ladies, Willard took a slow, soft, and often dark approach to his melodies on the record, which was released independently on iTunes on 2 July 2006 [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=167764010] .The album has been described in online reviews as "Exploring the darker side of emotion" [http://www.cdbaby.com/henrywillard] , and "a collection of calm, deep, unique melodies" [http://www.cdbaby.com/henrywillard] .

To promote the album's release in Summer 2006, Willard began performing regularly at both The Forum, and The Grey Lady Music Lounge (both in Tunbridge Wells, Kent), and still remains a regular name on the bill at the latter venue.Other venues toured in 2006 included London's Page 2 Bar, & The Cartoon in Croydon, Kent.

Willard continued to perform regularly in Tunbridge Wells throughout 2007 and early 2008, whilst he wrote new material for a forthcoming album.On 14 April 2008, it was posted on Henry's Official site, [http://www.henrywillard.com] , that recording of a new album was to commence Summer 2008.

On 30 June 2008, Willard's MySpace page, [http://www.myspace.com/henrywillard] was updated to include a brand new recording fresh from the studio, with a track titled 'Old Hadlow Road' uploaded following its recording for Henry's forthcoming album, and inclusion on a 2-disc compilation CD that was pressed especially for Local & Live 2008 Festival [http://www.localandlive.org] , held in Tunbridge Wells, Kent between Friday 22nd August & Monday 25th August 2008, at which Willard performed.

[Henry Willard - iTunes link] [Henry Willard - CDBaby.com link #1] [Henry Willard - CDBaby.com link #2] [Henry Willard - Official Site] [Henry Willard - Official MySpace page] [Local and Live Festival 2008]