Cooper, Henry : Gin Years

A native Oregonian, Henry Cooper spent his formative years mastering the harmonica and rubbing elbows with the likes of Curtis Salgado and Robert Cray during their heyday in the Emerald City of the South, Eugene, Oregon. A couple of his first influences included Paul Butterfield and Big Walter Horton. The guitar soon became Henry's main instrument when Blues greats such as Elmore James, Muddy Waters and Albert Collins stole his attention. He started playing country music and it turned into the blues with a guitar style that is a hybrid between picking and sliding where you can hear a mix of Hawaiian, country and blues in his playing. Henry has put a lot of work into creating his own unique sound and it shows. Henry has been a working musician from the age of 19. Most notably, he backed up Screamin' Jay Hawkins for a time and also worked with The Duffy Bishop Band for many years. Other bands include The Disruptors, The Terraplanes and Los Explorers. For the last seven years Henry has been fronting his own band, The Henry Cooper Band during which time he created four CDs: Baby Please, Slide Man, Automatic Trouble-Live at the EMP, and his most recent CD, "The Gin Years." "The guy's chops are extraordinary." says Southland Blues Magazine, Los Angeles, CA.