Meet Dave Hendrickson | Musician, Songwriter, Producer.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dave Hendrickson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dave, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Playing music makes me happy. Being a part of something that brings joy to others is very fulfilling. Creating music, whether it’s writing or the recording process, can be a very satisfying experience. Knowing that I’ve given it my best effort in helping a project move along is meaningful to me on a personal level. And I always hope that comes across to the people who hire me and ultimately to the consumer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I always want the people who have hire me to feel that once they have me on board they don’t have to worry about my seat in the organization. As a band leader myself I know how much they have on their minds at any given moment. So my goal is always to give them one less thing to concern themselves with.

That wasn’t always at the front of my mind but experience being a leader myself made me realize how important that would be to people.

That’s also not something you can just tell someone from the beginning. Just like any new relationship, at first there is a feeling out period between you and the artist. So for me I just continue conducting myself in the most professional way possible until folks start to see and believe that I am sincere in that goal.

Also I have learned over the years that everyone is different in their expectations. That’s another thing it takes time to learn. Once I begin to understand each artists way of working and communicating I do my best to match up with their vision. At the same time bringing my experience in to help them realize that vision.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being a musician from Detroit I always tell people to go to the Motown Museum. You couldn’t grow up in Detroit in the days of Motown recording artists dominating the airwaves without being influenced and inspired by that era. That’s where we would start.

There was a stretch of time when Detroit had a bad reputation with folks that had never been here. I understand that but if you haven’t been here then you’re just perpetuating a stereotype of what is now a bygone era. So next we would just embrace the city so they could see how it is currently thriving. There are music venues, bars, restaurants and all sorts of great spaces to spend your time. We’d probably take in a ball game, visit one of the distilleries that have taken up shop in the city in the last decade.

And any spot we decide to hang out for a bit will give you a chance to experience the people who live here. The people are what really give this area its vibe.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First of all my parents. I come from a very musical family and always felt encouraged to pursue any and all musical avenues.

The people who came before us and inspired us. You know the ones who we admired and looked up to. The ones whose recordings we listened to over and over growing up. They are the ones who got us thinking we could do that too. All of them are somewhere in everything we do.

Also the people we work with are influencing us all the time. Even if we don’t recognize it at the time.

Website: https://davehendricksonmusic.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llob1ysBzR0

Other: Look up Dave Hendrickson on Spotify

Image Credits
Barb Hendrickson