Praise for Lucky King:

“The novel reminded me of The Bonfire of the Vanities.” -Marion Winik for The Weekly Reader

Lucky King opens in depths of New York’s Chinatown, where an ancient sage toils away producing fortunes for fortune cookies on a manual typewriter. This is the mysterious Lucky King. The next chapter starts like this: “Hello America, you’re listening to Jack DuVal, your host on the American Radio Syndicate. Our topic this evening is Affirmative Action.” Jack DuVal is a Rush Limbaugh-esque talk show host known for his golden voice and his provocative interviews. Jack receives an unsettling fortune in his Chinese takeout: YOU WILL LOSE WHAT YOU TREASURE MOST. Has he misplaced his solid gold cigarette lighter? No, it’s in his pocket. He forgets all about the distressing prediction, but we do not. 

Henderson builds a fascinating collection of characters around Jack DuVal. Most important is his producer Diane, who’s been sleeping with her boss for a while. She’s a complex, powerful, intelligent, sexually alive woman of the kind you almost never encounter in a book written by a man. Like every character in the book—and there are a slew of them, some only for a few pages—Diane is flawed in interesting ways. Also like everyone else, she will eventually receive a fortune from the Lucky King.  While the cruelty of fate is a major theme of the book, Henderson also deals in just outcomes and the possibility of redemption. In fact, the novel reminded me of The Bonfire of the Vanities: the Manhattan setting, the politics, the role of hubris, the attention to race and class. 

As soon as I finished this book I knew there had to be a sequel. After all, the Lucky King is ageless, and so is his city. If there is any justice or sanity in the world of publishing, they’ll slide over some of the idiotic thrillers they’re always hyping and give this series an audience. 

Praise for Beyond The Pale:

"Now were freekin talkin!!! Great solid midwestern singer songwriter rock right up the alley. Bruce is nothing less than a hero in this tradition of dirtdigging rock. Lovers of Neal Casal, Wilco, Petty and hell know what else must buy this CD at once. One of the best CDs in the midwest school of 1999 is a fact and just listen to a tune like "I wanted To" and "Wash It All Away" and get stunned. Great CD!” -Par Winberg for Melodic.net

“This record continues to gain high praise from critics and the music industry alike, and Beyond The Pale was just recently re-released by Valley Entertainment this April. Henderson also received national exposure through a December appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, and was invited back after the Valley release. Born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Henderson relocated first to Austin and eventually landed in New York City where he formed roots rock bands Hearts And Minds and High Plains Drifters. His 1997 solo debut, The Wheels Roll (Paradigm), peaked at # 11 on the Gavin Americana national radio chart. The release of Beyond The Pale comes after Henderson's successful battle with cancer last year, and finds him joined by drummer Steve Holley (Paul McCartney, Junior Brown), keyboardist/accordionist Charlie Giordano (Joe Cocker), guitarist Andy York (John Mellencamp), bassist Paul Ossola, and guitarist and producer Kerryn Tolhurst. Henderson wrote or co-wrote all tracks on Beyond The Pale, including "Flatlands" with Matthew Grimm (Hangdogs), and "Mexico" with Curtis Stigers. He writes story songs about hard times, hopes and dreams, and the best track, "I Never Lost An Arm," laments lost love (and was the song Henderson played on the Late Show). On Beyond The Pale, Henderson sounds completely comfortable - and inspired, and makes some of the most accessible music the Americana genre has to offer.” -David J. Klug for Indie Music Review

Praise for The Wheels Roll:

“Bruce Henderson's backing band is the New York-based High Plains Drifters, an outfit that includes Saturday Night Live's G.E Smith (the one who looks like Skeletor) on guitar and Paul Ossola (the one who looks like Thoreau) on bass. To their credit, Smith and Ossola, who never cease mugging on television, manage to keep the focus on their frontman on Henderson's debut, The Wheels Roll. The result is that Henderson's voice – kinda Dylanesque, sorta T Bone Burnettish – is surrounded by tight, rootsy playing that purrs right along, whether swaying through a delicate, mandolin-flecked waltz, swinging with a hot fiddle (George Strait should cover "Big City" immediately) or ripping through a bar-band rocker.

But the thing that wants to matter most here is the songs. In fact, hidden behind the disc's easy, rootsy sound is the heart of a real singer-songwriter. A transplanted Oklahoman, Henderson opens the album with "Feet Of Clay". "Nerves of steel, feet of clay," he admits, "I fall in love, then walk away," and the remainder of The Wheels Roll is primarily devoted to circling this theme – the failures of will that can doom our relationships – from a variety of perspectives. Backed by mournful accordion, one song features a stubborn man who finds himself alone and "swimming through the ashes of the bridges I have burned," while the guy in "White Lines/Blacktop", a great Keith Richards-style rocker, has decided to swallow his pride and get his ass back on home where it belongs. Now and then, Henderson's lyrics can turn out to be silly and too clever, as in "I cried so hard I thought my face would rust" (I hear those metal faces'll do that on you), but more regularly they are cleverly revealing, as in "You want a house of love/I want a mobile home."

Not everything works, especially in the disc's second half. "I Can Drive" and the title track are the kind of bar-band roots-rock that cooks up right in a club, no doubt, but comes off like a pedestrian Joe Ely at home in your living room. Cloying and trying too hard, "Texas or New Mexico" edges into Dan Fogleberg territory. Mainly, though, The Wheels Roll is a fine debut, filled with smart, well-played roots rock.” -David Cantwell for No Depression