We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rich Hennessy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rich, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Risk is an interesting word. I see risk as an important part of someone’s life. While taking risks may scare many people the word that scares me the most is mundane. Risk is a part of my journey, saying no (within reason) has never been in my vocabulary. I’ve never turned down the chance to perform, no matter how sketchy, unorganized or divey the gig was.
I’ve taken risks many times, some are minor, like I’ve entered into singing competitions around NYC that I knew not a soul in the room! I just relied on my talent. Scary? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. How else do you grow as a performer? Being a bit uncomfortable (again, within reason) is natural. Pushing yourself outside of the boundaries that you are familiar with only adds to your human experience.
But I’d say one of the bigger risks, if not the biggest risk, that I’ve taken is my impromptu move to Nashville without having one friend. I had made an acquaintance or two but no one that would really entice me to go. But I met a manager, I was working on my remake of “You’re the Voice” and I was/am determined to make the best music possible. In my mind, Nashville was where that was going to happen. Meeting incredible producers/music creators like Rick Chudacoff (Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson) and managers Joe Lamont (Arrested Development, Mark Vincent) who were fundamental in releasing the remake. So after years of living in the Northeast, I packed my bags and headed down to Tennessee. Now 4 years in town, my network both professionally and personally has grown to really come into my own as an artist.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Rich Hennessy has finally found his voice.
He found his literal voice at a young age – he was known in the family for belting out pop songs in the back of his mom’s Dodge Caravan.
But in high school, Hennessy found he had another voice – one with the power to make change.
“Growing up as a public school student in a small New Jersey town, I saw how politics worked and their effect on everyday life, especially on the school system,” says Hennessy. “By high school, I recognized what corruption looked like and that it was everywhere. So many times on both sides officials would say, ‘Well, what about the children?’ but I remember feeling, ‘They have no idea what children want–no one ever asked us.’ Who was actually advocating for students?’ So around high school, I decided it would be me. I started showing up to school board meetings, advocating for what I thought was in the best interest for the students. I went toe to toe with Teacher’s Unions and Administration.”
Hennessy carried with him his love of advocacy to college, representing his fellow students and eventually becoming student government president. But there was another voice inside him that wasn’t ready to emerge.
“I didn’t want to come out in college. I felt like being gay would damper my success in school and put my twin brother under the microscope for the next three years. I thought me being gay would have been the ultimate ‘demerit’ on my life.”
After a string of life changing events post-college that forced Hennessy to look inward, Rich’s father, who shares a deep passion for music and songwriting, invited Rich to join him on a trip to Nashville. Rich found himself in the studio with budding songwriters and artists, and everything clicked: the boy who loved to belt show tunes, the teenager who was compelled to advocate, and the proud gay man who had come out of the closet and learned to love himself. “I can do this, and I should have done this a long time ago.”
Hennessy moved across the river to NYC and began booking gigs around town, eventually landing local opening slots for national acts. But he couldn’t shake what he had experienced in Nashville – a vibrant pop music scene driven by a tight-knit network of songwriters, artists, and producers.
One cold winter night, after an especially frustrating bartending shift on Manhattan’s West Side, Rich made his nightly walk down 8th Avenue and knew it was time to take another leap. A few months later, he pulled a U-Haul up to his first Nashville apartment.
Appropriately, the first song Hennessy recorded was a cover of the 80s anthem “You’re The Voice,” released just prior to the 2020 election. Hennessy, who was eager to use his music to inspire and empower others, performed the song as part the iVoted concert, and partnered with Drag Out The Vote to record a lyric video.
After he saw the song become a vehicle to empower others to speak their truths, Hennessy began honing his songwriting skills. He knew others would connect with his story and his experiences. Digging deep in songwriting sessions, Rich returned to his advocacy roots and knew as a gay man living in America, there was much work to be done.
“There is room in the industry for artists to use their voices to push agendas,” says Hennessy. “There are so many artists in marginalized communities that don’t speak up on social issues, especially white gay men. I know it’s a risk, but I also have to live in this world. I have to break the silence on my community that has been marginalized.”
His first original song, “Enough,” chronicles what he calls “his love/hate relationship with America.” “I wrote the song about a relationship where someone had been disappointed or burned, but that relationship is me with my country. Through school shootings, police killings, and the COVID pandemic, when is enough, enough?”
The passion of “Enough” caught the attention of the People’s Action Committee, who asked to hear more, and Hennessy played them a rough demo of his latest original song “Break The Silence.”
Written in quarantine out of frustration for the mishandling of COVID as social justice demonstrations unfolded around the country in the wake of the George Floyd killing, Hennessy wrote the anthem inspiring others to “reclaim our time.” The People’s Action Committee immediately connected with the song and felt it matched their mission. The organization invited Hennessy to become their first social justice influencer and selected “Break The Silence” to be used throughout their campaigns.
His latest single, “Keep Your Love,” is a dance pop anthem to celebrate Pride month and was able to perform the release at Pride festivals across the US in dedicated LGBTQ+ month of June. It later was remixed and became a summer smash in the UK peaking at #4 on Musicweek’s Commercial Dance Pop Charts.
“It’s truly amazing what can happen when you find your authentic voice and use it to change the world,” says Hennessy. “Of course I want people to enjoy my music, but on a deeper level, if I can empower others to find their voices through my music and to speak out against injustice, that is on a scale so much bigger than personal satisfaction. I want my music to be an agent of change.”
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
When the world stood still, art, in all forms, persevered. Everyone turned to their new favorite song, new favorite TV show/Movie. The world should really take note of that and start realizing that the arts are important to humanity and probably invest in them just as much as they do athletics. Showing support these days is as simple as a like, comment and/or share of a post. It less about the clout and more about the exposure and reach. It doesn’t cost a dollar, just 3 seconds of your time. Social media footprint is so important to the industry these days. And it really makes a difference for artists.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to make some sort of an impact on another human’s life. They connect deeply with a song and share it with friend’s or put it on to fit their mood or lift their spirit. It doesn’t happen very often (yet) but I was sitting at the doctor’s office a couple month’s back and the person sitting across from me in the waiting room was kind of staring at me. Finally, they mustered up the courage to ask “Hey, are you Rich Hennessy?” The Jersey in me was in a “yeah, who’s askin’?” mode but I checked myself and responded “Yeah, that’s me!” they say “Oh man, I listen to your song ‘Break the Silence’ all the time!” I don’t know, maybe its that feeling I’m constantly chasing- someone seeing my validity as an artist. It brings me a lot of joy to knowing that even if I impact one person’s day- it’s all worth it. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.richhennessyofficial.com
- Instagram: @richhennessyofficial
- Facebook: @richhennessyofficial
- Twitter: @richhennessyoff
- Youtube: youtube.com/richhennessy
Image Credits
Jeremy Ryan