Born on April Fools Day, 1951, in Brooklyn, NewYork, Henry began playing clubs at age thirteen with his first band. Before long he was performing at the 1964 World’s Fair and spending summers honing his skills at Catskill Mountain resorts. Encouraged by his mom, also a gifted musician, and Gil Hodges, the all-star first baseman of The Brooklyn Dodgers who lived in the neighborhood, Henry’s career rose to amazing heights when, in 1969, during his first semester at Brooklyn College, he co-founded the 1950’s Rock & Roll revival band “Sha Na Na” and that summer became the youngest performer at “The Woodstock Festival.”

Leaving the group to record on his own, he made over a dozen critically acclaimed albums for the most prestigious labels in the world highlighted by his classic A&M Records LP, “Plug Me Into Something” in 1975. In 1976, he received a gold record for his worldwide hit “Shannon,” a song inspired by the death of Beach Boy’s lead singer CarlWilson’s Irish Setter! He’s shared the stage with some of the greatest artists in rock-and-roll history, including Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, Ricky Nelson, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, The Byrds, Poco, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Cocker, Chicago, The Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates, Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals, B.B. King and The Kinks.

As an actor, he starred in the road company of the Broadway hit PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES with the legendary Nicolette Larson (It’s Gonna Take A Lot Of Love) and Jonathan Edwards (Sunshine). For the past several years, Henry has been constantly writing and recording critically acclaimed CDs including NOTHING BUT DREAMS, I’M HEARING THINGS, ONE-HIT WANDERER, FOREVERLAND, and RHYMES AND MISDEMEANORS. “One HitWanderer,” is a celebration of life and re-invention that will charm audiences of all ages. Henry’s working his way back to the top, keeping in mind his mom’s words of wisdom: “The Impossible Takes A Little Bit Longer!”

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The band’s first single, “SiCK,” released on 11.1.10, debuted at #1 in its first week.  According to Billboard, “SiCK” sold more physical CD singles in 2 weeks than all other artists for the entire year of 2010.  The band’s first single sold over 140,000+ in less than 6 weeks, making New Hollow #1 in Physical CD Single Sales for all of 2010. New Hollow’s second single; “Boyfriend” also debuted at #1 during its first week of release on 1.23.11 and sold roughly the same amount as the first single “SiCK”, but in even less time! Together the first two singles have sold approximately 300,000 copies collectively. Fresh off the success of their record breaking chart debut, New Hollow, released their third single, “Airplanes”, on 5.26.11, topping Billboard’s HOT 100 Physical CD Singles Sales Chart, making it THREE in a row!

A fresh new twist to a classic rock sound — that’s what the new teen pop-rock band, New Hollow delivers! The three band members, Mick Clouse, 17 (lead vocal, guitar, keyboard), Evan West, 17 (lead vocal, keyboard, bass, guitar), Chad Blashford, 16 (drums, back-up vocal), are all self-taught musicians and vocalists. In addition to being skilled at multiple instruments, they also write their own music.

With two strong lead vocalists and an equally strong backup singer who occasionally pops in an unexpected rap overlay, New Hollow will excite you with their melodic harmonies and unique approach. They have brought back somewhat of a classic rock approach and merged it with their original flare. Their sound has been referred to as fresh, pop rock with a retro flare!

New Hollow has a sound that is appealing to everyone — both genders, and seemingly all generations. Their sound is authentic, not manufactured, and their song lyrics are relatable.

When it comes to writing, they find inspiration from their own life experiences. “It’s our way of expressing ourselves. We hope that others can relate through the stories written in our songs,” says Mick.  Chad remarks, “We like playing acoustically because then everyone knows we can really sing, but we also like playing electric because we love the energy.” Whether hearing them perform live, acoustic or electric, New Hollow is infectious. “We just want to play for anyone who will listen. We want to write music that resonates and stands the test of time,” states Evan.

The band’s first CD single “SiCK” (was written when the boys were 13 and 14), is a self-penned teenage story of unrequited love from a guy’s point of view. Specifically, it addresses the angst that a teen boy feels when he is crushing on a girl but she doesn’t even know he exists. “Boyfriend”, the band’s second single, (was written when they boys were 14 and 15), is about the unfortunate challenges of reality, related to a long distance relationship.  Their third single, “Airplanes” is a cover of the original B.O.B. song featuring Hayley Williams from Paramore and highlights the unique rapping abilities of the drummer, Chad.  New Hollow’s singles “SiCK”, Boyfriend” and “Airplanes” are available on iTunes and in Justice Stores nationwide and through all digital retailers.  The boys’ latest single, “She Ain’t You”, is yet to be released to iTunes.

Their name, New Hollow, comes from the merging of “New” from their hometown of New Albany, with “Hollow” from a street sign they passed during a trip to Cleveland.  Although the boys are all from different states, Mick by way of Dallas and New York City, Evan from Detroit, and Chad from the Los Angeles area, by some strange twist of fate they ended up attending the same school in New Albany, a small suburb of Columbus, Ohio.

Looking back, the band has come a long way in a short amount of time. In 2010, New Hollow’s National Anthem performance on Thanksgiving Day at Cowboy Stadium before the Dallas-New Orleans game marked a milestone in the young teens’ career, making it their first television appearance ever in front of 93,000+ fans and viewed by 30 million nationwide. The band was also selected as the opening act for Train at Clear Channel’s WNCI 97.9 Jingle Ball; the nation’s leading top 40 Station in the Midwest. Furthermore, New Hollow was named the 2011 Spokespersons for the Salvation Army and was the Headlining Act for their 2010 Rock the Red Kettle Concert.

As awareness of the band continues to grow, in 2011 they were featured on Fox and NBC News, The CW and Access Hollywood.  The band also starred in their very first TV commercial for ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow). In Spring 2011 they were asked to perform for many charitable and corporate events including the annual galas for both – Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. They were also honored to perform at the Ohio Governor’s Inauguration Day Concert making history as the first ever rock band invited to perform in the State Capitol Building. In July 2011 New Hollow was featured in a cover story for the Columbus Monthly Magazine.  Last summer, the band toured extensively on an acoustic meet and greet tour playing for thousands of New “Hollowers”. The group also hit the road as one of the opening bands for the “LG Ones To Watch — Presents 100 Monkeys” tour, as well as opening for Big Time Rush at the 2011 Ohio State Fair, State Fair of West Virginia, and the Allen County Fair in Lima, Ohio and the New Albany Classic Event.

In 2012 they kicked off a school tour delivering their anti–bullying message and have recently been invited to join Defeat the Label in their nationwide fight against bullying. They headlined a concert for “A Kid Again” Charity, which serves kids with life-threatening illnesses.

In Spring 2012, they headlined several sold out concerts in the Midwest.

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America’s journey has found them exploring a wide variety of musical terrain. Their best-known tunes, which also include “I Need You,” “Ventura Highway,” “Don’t Cross The River,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” and “Sister Golden Hair” were cornerstones of 1970’s Top 40 and FM rock radio. Yet beyond their impressive catalog of hits, listeners would discover there was always much more to America than surface perceptions. The combination of Gerry Beckley’s melodic pop rock and Dewey Bunnell’s use of folk-jazz elements, slinky Latin-leaning rhythms and impressionistic lyric imagery contrasted well with Dan Peek’s more traditional country-rock leanings and highly personal lyrics.

America’s albums–six certified gold and/or platinum, with their first greatest hits collection, History, hitting four+ million in sales–displayed a fuller range of the trio’s talents than did their singles. Their material encompassed an ambitious artistic swath; from effects-laden rockers to oddball medleys to soul-bearing ballads, America displayed a flawless blend of disparate genres and styles as wide-open as the great American plains.

Enjoying massive success early in their career, America earned their stripes as musical soldiers on the battlefield amidst the excess, craziness and chaos of the 70’s. The trio won the Grammy® for Best New Artist in 1972 and began
working with George Martin and Geoff Emerick in 1974. This successful team
went on to record seven albums and several Top Ten hits, including “Tin Man” and “Sister Golden Hair”.

By the mid-70s, inter-band conflicts combined with an exhaustive touring and recording schedule exacted its toll on the group. With Peek’s departure from the fold in 1977, his band mates rose to the challenge and carried on as a duo. Shifts in sound and direction, changes in producers and managers, and a renewed dedication to the craft of songwriting helped rocket America to the upper reaches of the pop charts in 1982 with their smash single, “You Can Do Magic.” During this tumultuous time in their career, Beckley and Bunnell immersed themselves in their craft, infusing a newfound maturity into their rich body of work. Their growth as singers, songwriters and musicians has continued into the present day as illustrated by landmark releases such as 2000’s Highway 3-disc box set, 2002’s Holiday Harmony, an album comprised of seasonal classics and live showcases, 2007′s Here & Now and 2009’s Live In Concert: Wildwood Springs.

From their formative years, America has been a band capable of transcending borders with its uplifting music and positive message. Embracing a rainbow of divergent cultures, America’s audiences continue to grow, comprising a loyal legion of first, second and third generation fans, all bearing testament to the group’s enduring appeal. “I think that the ingredients of the America sound are the basic fundamentals that translate internationally,” explains Beckley. “The Italians are huge fans of dance music, but they also love a ballad–they’re romantic at heart. It’s the same in the Far East. A lot of times in these countries, we see people singing along, and they don’t really know what the words mean. Music is truly the international language.”

In the midst of their 40th-year anniversary of music making, America continues to evolve while remaining a perennial mainstay on the domestic and international concert circuit and a cornerstone of 70’s Top 40 and FM rock radio. In addition to their classics, America is revisiting their roots as writers and artists. The 40th Anniversary show features songs reflecting some of their song-writing inspirations as well as showcasing their first album America with a very special acoustic set featuring standards such as “I Need You” and “Three Roses”, as well as some never-before-performed deep cuts.

From anonymous horses to fast-moving trains, America’s extraordinary four-decade musical legacy of consummately crafted pop/rock songs, trademark lush harmonies and evocative lyrical landscapes will never go out of style.

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Playing with his uniquely expressive sound and soaring musical imagination, trumpeter Chris Botti is joined by featured artists Andrea Bocelli, Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, Mark Knopfler, David Foster and Caroline Campbell in a warm, intimate celebration of melodic balladry.

Impressions, trumpeter Chris Botti’s new Sony CD, is the latest in a stellar parade of albums — starting with 2004’s When I Fall In Love and continuing with To Love Again, Italia and the CD/DVD Chris Botti In Boston — that have firmly established him as the world’s largest selling jazz instrumentalist. Add to that a cluster of Grammy nominations and three #1 albums on Billboard’s Jazz Albums listings.

As Botti began his planning for the new album, he was determined to do some “familiar songs” for Impressions, songs that reached back to his fascination with the melody and balladry that have been essential to his music since he first picked up a trumpet.

Songs such as “What A Wonderful World,’ “Summertime” and “Over the Rainbow” certainly fulfill that desire. But the album’s far-ranging program also encompasses many other areas, deeply influenced by conversations Botti had with fans during the busy, world-wide touring that keeps him on the road as much as 300 days a year.

“People kept mentioning Chris Botti In Boston,” he recalls. “They loved the music in that program. But they talked a lot about the variety among the performers, too – Yo Yo Ma, Steven Tyler, Sting, John Mayer, Josh Groban.”

Unlike the Boston album, however, Impressions was planned as a studio recording rather than a concert performance. So Botti and his manager/producer Bobby Colomby, put together a wish list of possible guest artists. The game plan: to match the variety in music and performers present in Chris Botti In Boston. But to do so in a very different way. At the top of the wish list, the legendary rocker from the band Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler.

“We had the idea,” says Botti, “of asking Mark to sing ‘What A Wonderful World.’ How much more different could we get than that?”

When Knopfler, who rarely sings songs by other writers, agreed to do the tune, the first important piece of the album was in place. Others quickly followed, some from unlikely sources.

Botti had been commissioned to do his version of Chopin’s Prelude No. 20 in C minor, and perform it in Warsaw for the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Always intrigued by the opportunity to take a classical work and, as he explains it, “play with the time, move things around,” Botti accepted the commission. “And I immediately realized,” he adds, “that Prelude could be the starting point for Impressions, as well.

Another serendipitous event – a concert at the White House – added a completely unexpected composition to the program. After Botti performed with pianist Herbie Hancock at the event, a state dinner for the President of China, Colomby suggested they compose a piece together. An afternoon of free improvising at Hancock’s house resulted in Tango Suite. And Hancock’s presence as a guest on the album.

A similar afternoon of creative compatibility – this time between Botti and pianist/composer/producer David Foster, with lyrics by Tiziano Ferro – produced “Per Te.” Sung by the incomparable tenor of Andrea Bocelli, it already sounds like a classic.
Country star Vince Gill, doing Randy Newman’s “Losing You,” was another of the album’s featured artists, his conversational, story-telling style adding more of the variety that Botti and Colomby were slowly accumulating for the album.

At the suggestion of arranger Mendoza, Colomby brought Brazilian guitarist Leonardo Amuedo to the studio, a further vital element was added. “We’d heard a lot of other guitar players, and liked everything they did,” says Botti. “But as soon as we heard Leo, we just started replacing all the guitar parts we’d already recorded. His beautiful, nylon classic Spanish guitar sound is all over this record.” And especially present in Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins’ lovely “Setembro,” the soaring lines of Rodrigo’s “En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor,” “Over the Rainbow” and the contemplative Botti/Amuedo duet interpretation of R. Kelly’s “You Are Not Alone,” a hit for Michael Jackson.

Three other pieces brought more of the variety Botti was seeking. “Oblivion” is an Astor Piazolla tango, originally written for a chamber ensemble, here a romantic vehicle for Botti’s trumpet. “Sevdah,” with its cinematic Eastern European qualities and dramatic choral climax offers yet another hue to Impressions’ many musical colors. And “Contigo en La Distancia” adds the rich sensuality of a Cuban bolero.
As the songs began to accumulate, producer Colomby insisted on maintaining an open-minded receptivity, eager to allow the creative process leeway to produce the best possible results.. ‘His attitude,” says Botti, “was that it would be okay to record 19 songs even if we only used 13. That’s the way it turned out, and it was the right way to do it.”

Botti seemed destined to become a musician — and even to become the kind of musician he is today — almost from the very beginning. Born in Portland, Oregon, he was encouraged to pursue music by his mother, a concert pianist. He also had an early taste of the international world that would become his primary territory as a successful performing artist. His father, who is Italian, taught English and Italian languages, and he took the family to live in Italy for several years, beginning when Botti was in the first grade.

“I was speaking fluent Italian before we came back,” he recalls. “But, sadly, I’ve forgotten most of it.” That he still feels a firm connection with his Italian roots, however, was fully manifest in the title song he composed, with David Foster, for the album, Italia.

A different, but equally significant connection took place when Botti was twelve, and he heard Miles Davis play “My Funny Valentine.” The impact it had not only persuaded him to make a life time commitment to the trumpet, it also launched the affection for melody, space and balance that have been intrinsic aspects of Botti’s musical vision.

After attending Indiana University, and studying with the highly regarded jazz educator David Baker, the great trumpet teacher Bill Adam, jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw and jazz saxophonist George Coleman, he moved to New York in the mid-‘80s.

His early career was spent crafting his skills in settings reaching from the Buddy Rich Big Band and Frank Sinatra to Natalie Cole and Joni Mitchell. Throughout the ‘90s and into the new century, Botti played extensively with Paul Simon, and had an especially creative association with Sting.

Those gigs – and those relationships – were, he says, powerful learning experiences.
“Watching artists like Sting and Paul and Joni Mitchell,” explains Botti, “how they get in and out of songs, how they introduce people, whether they would do this or that sort of thing, what they would say about one of their players. All that was a huge asset for me. I wouldn’t be the performer I am today without that background.”

Now a major artist in his own right, performing worldwide, selling more than three million albums, he has found a form of creative expression that begins in jazz and expands beyond the limits of any single genre. With Impressions and the albums that preceded it, Chris Botti has thoroughly established himself as one of the important, innovative figures of the contemporary music world.

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