“Being overexposed has never been my problem,” says Henry, 38. But ever since his first record, the 1986 “Talk of Heaven,” he’s attracted a notably hip following (like Billy Bob Thornton and Jakob Dylan, who sings backup on “Fuse”) and even cooler collaborators. Who else has worked with guitarists from both Helmet (Page Hamilton) and the Rolling Stones (Mick Taylor), as well as the late Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman’s trumpet player? (“One of the great moments of my feeble career,” Henry says of Cherry’s appearance on “Shuffletown.”) It probably hasn’t hurt Henry that every piece about him finds a way to sneak in the information that his wife, Melanie Ciccone, is Madonna’s sister and producer Daniel Lanois’s manager–see?–though it’s hard to see how it could actually help. Still, the funky, urban sound of “Fuse” has raised Henry’s profile. Last month he was on David Byrne’s “Sessions at West 54th Street”; last week, Rosie O’Donnell’s show; the week after next, it’s David Letterman.
Henry now dismisses his work before the 1996 “Trampoline,” his first venture into home recording and digital technology. “Except for my last record,” he says, “my whole catalog is unlistenable to me. At least half the fuel I’ve been burning is probably artistic frustration, and sometimes that’s enough to keep you working.” But his current satisfaction with both his family and his work–“my life’s never been better than it is now”–doesn’t seem to worry him any. He’s got at least one dream that’s still unrealized. “I’ll get in line with everybody else,” he says, “and say I’d like to work with Lauryn Hill.” And his lyrics suggest his sensibility hasn’t turned intolerably upbeat: “I gambled I would lose/I guess I win.” With that sense of paradox, Joe Henry should thrive even if “Fuse” makes him famous. And if his longtime fans feel vindicated, they’ll just have to deal, too.
