Ernie Hendrickson

For Ernie Hendrickson, the hill country is as much a state of mind as a physical locale, as the deep but beautifully casual songs on his new One for the Dreamers eloquently remind us. In the hill country of Ernie's imagination, the high ground provides an elevated vantage point that enables his listeners to perceive how time can leave important matters unfinished, or tie up loose ends with sometimes heartbreaking finality. Yet the hill country is, of course, a real place, and where Ernie comes from. The Wisconsin native grew up in what's called that state's Driftless Area, where Midwestern flatness gives way to a more rounded landscape, so it’s natural that that he chose to record One for the Dreamers nestled among the neatly arranged hills of Middle Tennessee.  Recorded at Lamplight Studios in rural Primm Springs, Tenn., One for the Dreamers was anchored by producer-drummer Chad Cromwell (Neil Young, Mark Knoplfer), songwriter-producer-bassist Kevin “Swine” Grantt (Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson), and Pete Wasner (Vince Gill) on piano, organ, and wurlitzer. Special guests include legendary harmonica player Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson, Guy Clark), pianist Reese Wynans (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy), and rising Americana singer-songwriter Lera Lynn on harmony vocals.  There's a concordance of topography and emotion at work in the new record that comes out of Ernie’s life as a traveling musician and an intuitive record maker—Midwestern openness meets Nashville experience, you could say. Like the great American singers and songwriters who have inspired him—performers such as Neil Young, Jerry Garcia and Willie Nelson—Ernie seeks the light amidst the ever-present perils of darkness.

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