ART & MUSIC PRESERVATION
ART DIRECTION
DESIGN HOUSE
RECORD LABEL HOBBYIST
Whether as an art director or a creative collaborator, I handle everything from the minutiae of material preparation to full-scale design and execution with efficiency and precision. And through it all, you’ll never see me in the design.
My experience spans from working with emerging bands to established legacy acts. Each project, regardless of its era or artistic vision, has taught me to adapt, to contextualize, and to craft beauty from existing materials through modern solutions.
If you’re ready to collaborate with someone who is dedicated to excellence, get in touch. I’m committed to leaving every project in a better state than when I found it.
ABOUT HENRY
After the Olympics, Henry relocated Chunklet HQ to Atlanta in 1997, ramping up his freelance graphic design work and has since released more than 100 records by artists such as Man or… Astro-man?, Pylon, The Jesus Lizard, the Oblivians, and the Apples in Stereo. Henry has art directed significant releases for artists such as Lee Hazelwood, John Cale, Captain Beefheart, John Prine, Steve Keene, The Gun Club, Hüsker Dü, White Zombie, the Glands, and Dinosaur Jr., including Grammy nominations for his work on the Charley Patton box set and the Fonotone Records retrospective. Henry has booked innumerable shows at clubs in Athens and Atlanta, along with various gigs in Chapel Hill, Birmingham, Nashville, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and even small towns in between. Henry’s involvement with bands placed him at the forefront of the early 2000’s alt-comedy scene, booking shows in rock clubs for Mr. Show, David Cross, Zach Galifinakis, Eugene Merman, Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, John Mulaney, Aziz Ansari, and Patton Oswalt, for whom Henry produced his first six comedy records.
Since 2017, Henry has been closely working with the University of Georgia Special Collections and other institutions to preserve and archive his and others’ collections. He serves as custodian of the archives of Elephant 6 Recording Collective members Robert Schneider and Bill Doss. Henry has written five books, The Overrated Book (Last Gasp), The Rock Bible (Chronicle), The Indie Cred Test (Penguin), Plus 1: Athens (Chunklet), and Plus 1: Atlanta (Chunklet). Henry actively continues to research and preserve music history through the non-profit Chunklet Music Preservation Project, collecting and archiving ephemeral materials, such as ticket stubs, flyers, posters, set lists, photographs, and live recordings. In the first year of the Plus 1 project, Henry digitized more than 16,000 unique artifacts, which will be distributed to university and museum archives for future research.
Henry resides at Chunklet HQ in East Atlanta with his daughter, newlywed wife, and far too much crap.
Henry H. Owings began his music career in 1987 at WVYC 88.1 in York, Pennsylvania. College radio in southcentral Pennsylvania was Henry’s gateway to the burgeoning scenes in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and D.C., where he fervently absorbed the nascent music subculture that would explode internationally in the early 1990s. After completing his MBA at the University of Pittsburgh in 1991, Henry landed in Athens, Georgia, and—apropos of only his rabid love of music—politely requested to begin his stint in music criticism at Flagpole the immediate day he moved to town. His scathing banter was sometimes more than Flagpole could handle, so he started his own magazine in 1993. His critical ear and dry wit propelled his Chunklet magazine to international acclaim. Chunklet has been featured extensively in Mojo, NME, Time Out New York, Chicago Reader, Pitchfork, Spin, Rolling Stone, and countless other publications. Henry’s feverish devotion to music also offered him opportunity to host house shows with the cream of the 1990s Athens crop, including Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control, the Drive-by Truckers, Harvey Milk, Juicifer, as well as any touring band that felt like rattling the walls of his and others’ houses.