ONE MAN BAND
I caught a viral video of this one-man band, Lewis Floyd Henry. He was armed with a battery-operated amplifier and a custom-made toddler-sized drum kit banging out covers of Jimi Hendrix, T-Rex, Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Protect Ya Neck.’ I was blown away and 3-hours later; I was still looking for more videos to look at of this guy.
I couldn’t pass up the chance to learn more about this talented artist, so I sent a message to him via Facebook. I was blessed to get a response from the man who has a folky blues style, which transforms seamlessly into high-velocity rock grooves and commands the attention of everyone that passes by on the streets.
Enough writing, let’s get into it.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hello my name is Lewis Floyd Henry, I am a One Man Band based in London.
Can you tell me a bit about how you started out playing, did you play in a group or on your own before taking your talent on the streets?
I started to learn to play guitar when I was 11 and started some bands in school. One when I was 13 called Eclipse that played some originals and covers, that group then morphed into a metal band by the time I was 17. I studied art and just played guitar writing songs between the age of 17-19 then I started a group called Known around 1999, the first line up changed around 2001 and that band was active till 2007 we used to do gorilla style busking as a band that’s how I got into busking. That group split around 2007, and that’s when I started a One Man Band.
The Internet naturally brings you to the whole world, not just the street you play on, so when did you take off online?
People have often filmed me on their phones or cameras when they’ve seen me out busking and then uploaded to social media platforms the new worldwide stage which has gone viral. There have been four videos, One of me performing a version of a Wu-Tang Clan track called Protect Ya Neck around 2010. Another where I was playing a version of Johnny Be Good which had a 90-year-old Granny dancing with a young man around 2015. Then there are the two recent videos that went viral: The Ace Of Spades /Biggie mashup which had something like 8 million views on Facebook and the Wu Tallica mashup which has around 1.6 million views on youtube and however million on Facebook in 2017.
Do you play the festival circuit yet? If so, which has been your best one so far?
I have played at quite a few festivals it's difficult to pick one as a favorite, but I like festivals in the UK like The Big Chill, Secret Garden Party, Bestival, where I can wander off and find somewhere quirky to busk.
What is your plan around street performing, gigging and releases, and where can we see you next?
I'm working on a mashup album and a new one-man-band album which will be out sometime this year, apart from that I'll just be playing shows and doing a bit of busking here and there. If you'd like to see where I'm performing next just check out my Facebook page. Cool.
Facebook:
Cover photo source: Sightwordsound.com