On Stage
With a community-minded ethos reminiscent of the 1960s Laurel Canyon scene and songs that feel both timeless and present-day, Dermot Henry is a vital new voice. Summoning heroes like Adrianne Lenker and Elliott Smith, his rustic, alt-folk sound combines that world-wise outlook with a modern approach that is already building the 23-year-old a cult following.
Mixing the comfort with the new, ‘My Favourite Book Is One I’ve Read A Bunch’, says Dermot, was written “whilst apart from everyone I love. I spent a lot of time away from home last year. This is one of the only true love songs I have written, although it is more like a song of reassurance; love, when not able to manifest itself in physical attraction or time spent together, must be trusted to be lying still with intention.” B-Side ‘Little Rib’, meanwhile, is more contemplative, as Dermot embraces the existential: “the fact we are on a rock in nothingness and our molecules are able to connect with other people’s molecules is absurd. Sometimes the only way to approach this is through absurdity.”
Dermot Henry was born in Wiltshire, raised on a diet of his parents’ records that ranged from The Beatles and Tom Waits to Nina Simone. Musically he cut his teeth during a year abroad living in Paris for his degree, where he would busk on the city streets. In one particularly cinematic scene, he walked into a bar to see a stranger playing the classic ‘Freight Train’ by Elizabeth Cotten – as they forgot the words, Dermot Henry jumped up on stage to sing and found his new busking partner. This same spirit of spontaneity, openness – life’s surprises, and its imperfections – are to be found on the upcoming EP, Aiming Torches At The Sun. Recorded in Frome with Dom Monks (Big Thief, Michael Kiwanuka, Laura Marling), the result is a body of work that feels instinctive, intimate, and lived in – like a favourite pair of jeans, or that ‘Favourite Book’.