Nancy Honeytree
Encyclopedia
Nancy "Honeytree" Henigbaum (born April 11, 1952 in Fort Wayne, Indiana
) is an American
Christian musician
and one of the leaders in what was known as Jesus music
.
kids at her school, University of Iowa High School, eventually drifting into the drug culture. In 1970 she met some Jesus People at her sister's art school, and became one herself. After graduating, she worked at a youth ministry in Ft. Wayne, Indiana called Adams Apple, a part of the Jesus movement
, and it was during these years that she began to write songs about her new-found faith, recording her self-titled first album in 1973.
-soprano style was influenced by mainstream artists such as Joni Mitchell
, Carole King
and Judy Collins
, but her lyrics were largely dealing with one's personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Still, she was somewhat unusual in that some of the songs on her albums were not just dealing with Jesus, but with friends and relationships, the loss of a friend, family memories and, increasingly, the solitary life of an unmarried Christian adult woman. Her songs were intricate and at times, playful. "Hummer, Bummer, Bashmobile" recalled the trials and joys of her first car, using her blue Valiant as a metaphor for friendship, or, some said, Christ. Some of her fans fondly recall the pivotal line, "Sometimes the friends who give the strongest love/are the ones other people don't think much of... but that's the kind of love you need to get you by."
She continued recording throughout the 1970s and toured as a solo artist and with some of the best-known names of the Jesus Movement, such as Phil Keaggy
, Mike Johnson, and Mike Warnke
. Her third album, Evergreen, is often considered among her best. As her career progressed, Honeytree's style shifted to a classical/bluegrass mix.
On October 30, 1983, Honeytree was formally ordained by her church, Calvary Temple, in Ft. Wayne, In. During the 1980s she developed a ministry to single adults, a focus she maintains to this day.
In June 1990, Honeytree married John Richard Miller, also an ordained minister. In 1995 the couple gave birth to their first child; however, he died less than three hours after birth. After the loss, a song entitled "Up To Something Good" became a song of her faith. Three months later, the Millers were able to adopt another child, named William.
In the 1990s Honeytree recorded several Spanish-language albums and took her show on the road to Spanish-speaking countries. In recognition of the fact that she was one of the few women pioneering the then-new field of contemporary Christian music
, she is often affectionately referred to as the "First Lady of Jesus Music".
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Christian musician
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
and one of the leaders in what was known as Jesus music
Jesus music
Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music which originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement...
.
Personal background
Nancy Henigbaum ("Honeytree" being a translation of her family's German name) was born into a family of professional classical musicians. As a teen Nancy Honeytree was drawn toward the hippieHippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
kids at her school, University of Iowa High School, eventually drifting into the drug culture. In 1970 she met some Jesus People at her sister's art school, and became one herself. After graduating, she worked at a youth ministry in Ft. Wayne, Indiana called Adams Apple, a part of the Jesus movement
Jesus movement
The Jesus movement was a movement in Christianity beginning on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and spreading primarily through North America and Europe, before dying out by the early 1980s. It was the major Christian element within the hippie counterculture,...
, and it was during these years that she began to write songs about her new-found faith, recording her self-titled first album in 1973.
Professional background
Billed simply as "Honeytree" most of her career, the singer's folk rockFolk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
-soprano style was influenced by mainstream artists such as Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
and Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, but her lyrics were largely dealing with one's personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Still, she was somewhat unusual in that some of the songs on her albums were not just dealing with Jesus, but with friends and relationships, the loss of a friend, family memories and, increasingly, the solitary life of an unmarried Christian adult woman. Her songs were intricate and at times, playful. "Hummer, Bummer, Bashmobile" recalled the trials and joys of her first car, using her blue Valiant as a metaphor for friendship, or, some said, Christ. Some of her fans fondly recall the pivotal line, "Sometimes the friends who give the strongest love/are the ones other people don't think much of... but that's the kind of love you need to get you by."
She continued recording throughout the 1970s and toured as a solo artist and with some of the best-known names of the Jesus Movement, such as Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets...
, Mike Johnson, and Mike Warnke
Mike Warnke
Michael Alfred "Mike" Warnke is a Christian evangelist and comedian. With the success of his books and recordings, Warnke became one of evangelical Christianity's best-known experts on the subject of Satanism before his claims of having been a Satanist high priest were discredited in 1991 by the...
. Her third album, Evergreen, is often considered among her best. As her career progressed, Honeytree's style shifted to a classical/bluegrass mix.
On October 30, 1983, Honeytree was formally ordained by her church, Calvary Temple, in Ft. Wayne, In. During the 1980s she developed a ministry to single adults, a focus she maintains to this day.
In June 1990, Honeytree married John Richard Miller, also an ordained minister. In 1995 the couple gave birth to their first child; however, he died less than three hours after birth. After the loss, a song entitled "Up To Something Good" became a song of her faith. Three months later, the Millers were able to adopt another child, named William.
In the 1990s Honeytree recorded several Spanish-language albums and took her show on the road to Spanish-speaking countries. In recognition of the fact that she was one of the few women pioneering the then-new field of contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
, she is often affectionately referred to as the "First Lady of Jesus Music".
Discography
- Honeytree: The First Album 1973, Myrrh RecordsMyrrh RecordsMyrrh Records, also known as Myrrh Worship, is a Christian music record label. According to Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for Contemporary Christian music as the label that first published music by Barry McGuire, 2nd Chapter of...
- The Way I Feel 1974, Myrrh Records
- Evergreen 1975, Myrrh Records
- Me & My Old Guitar (live, double-LP) 1977, Myrrh Records
- Melodies In Me 1978, Myrrh Records
- Maranatha Marathon 1979, Myrrh Records
- Merry Christmas, Love Honeytree 1981, Sparrow RecordsSparrow Records-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...
- Best of Growing Up 1981, Myrrh Records
- Single Heart 1985, Benson MusicBenson RecordsBenson Records was founded by Bob Benson & John T. Benson, beginning as the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records and would come to house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, RiverSong, StarSong and Home Sweet Home...
- Every Single Day 1987, Milk & Honey Records
- Best of Honeytree Classics. 1989, Milk & Honey Records.
- Resurrection Sunday 1991, Milk & Honey Records
- Pioneer (20th Anniversary Recording) 1993, OakTable Publishing, Inc.
- Dios Ha Abierto la Puerta 1994, OakTable Publishing, Inc.
- Change You Made in Me. 2000, OakTable Publishing, Inc.
- Call of the Harvest (in English and Spanish). 2005, OakTable Publishing, Inc.