23. September 2025
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Mike Reid & Joe Henry – Life and Time

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Mike Reid & Joe Henry - Life and Time

Mike Reid & Joe Henry - Life and Time
4.6

Rating

 4.6/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great storytelling
  • Nice, condensed song styles

The one artist is a first round NFL draft pick, who has won a Grammy Award for the Best Country Song. The other one even got three of the famous gramophones during his career for album productions. Just by these basic facts, Mike Reid and Joe Henry feel like an absolutely interesting setup for a collaborative album. The two US-American artists release Life and Time on 5th September 2025. It is their first collaboration

 

Mike Reid – About The Artist

Mike Reid was born on 24th May 1947 in Altoona in Pennsylvania. He initially pursued a career as a defensive tackle in American Football, graduating at Pennsylvania State University and being the 1970 NFL seventh overall draft pick. He had to retire in 1974, majorly due to injuries.

In parallel, he performed as a pianist in some orchestras and later started being parts of bands. Thereafter, he moved to Nashville in 1980. He was a co-writer for Ronnie Milsap’s Stranger in My House, which won a Grammy Award in 1984. He released two solo albums in the early 1990’s, Turning for Home (1991) and Twilight Town (1992). They had decent chart placements. However, his debut album included the US and Canada chart-topping single Walk on Faith. In 2012, he released his third and last album so far, New Direction Home.

 

 

Joe Henry – About The Artist

While Reid is rather known for straight country music, Joe Henry is typically regarded as an alternative country and country folk artist. He was born on 2nd December 1960 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He grew up and graduated in Michigan, before moving to Brooklyn in 1985. One year later, he released his debut album Talk of Heaven. Overall, he has released sixteen individual studio albums, the last one being All the Eye Can See (2023). As a producer, he was part of three Grammy winning albums: Don’t Give Up On Me (Solomon Burke, Best Contemporary Blues Album, 2002), A Stranger Here (Ramlin’ Jack Elliot, Best Traditional Blues Album, 2009), and Genuine Negro Jig (Carolna Chocolate Drops, Best Traditional Folk Album, 2010).

 

Mike Reid & Joe Henry – Life and Time – Track by Track

The twelve song album lasts 50 minutes.

1. Sleeper Car

Sleeper Car opens this promising twelve track collaboration. The song is already setting a clear direction. Most of the songs are calm. Not too rarely, the piano is taking the lead, like in this one. Mike Reid is typically taking the vocal and pianist role, while Joe Henry is the producer of the album. They wrote the songs together. The focus is on the story. Sleeper Car just needs some limited additional instruments like an electric guitar and a pedal steel to create the intense atmosphere. This leads to a very deep, intense listen.

Flag our man down
when he comes back this way,
our cup runneth over
and there’s hell to pay
for all we’ve been given
and did not give away.
O, flag down the man going by,
there may be time yet we can try

2. The Bridge

The credits of the songs offer some very interesting names. For The Bridge, Mike Reid is sharing the vocal duties with Bonnie Raitt. This leads to an even stronger focus and intensity of the vocals. The two artists turn the second song into one of the highlights of the album.

3. Room

I woke to a room
with a story to tell
its silence was iron,
the strike of a bell;
that rang in the walls
and sang in my ear,
with a quiet I wasn’t
ready to hear

The next two songs work with a very limited setup. For Room, it is just Mike Reid, Ross Gallagher on the upright bass and Patrick Watten on the keyboard. The warm and calm voice of Mike Reid beautifully works out in this ballad – not only when he states your name on my tongue, my heart in your hand at end end of the chorus.

4. Stray Bird

For Stray Bird, it is solely Reid and Gallagher (on the bass again), who recorded this song. Already in the first two lines, The house caught fire just after dark, it becomes clear that this one is a rather dramatic story. The man I was just yesterday is scarcely here to stand is stated at the beginning of the chorus. And you simply have to stay calm and listen to the story told by Mike Reid.

5. Life And Time

Life And Time is one of two tracks Reid and Henry shared before the album release. The title track of the record is a very biographical listen, which again works out very well. The emotions of the song, the struggle reflected in the track is catching you. This song is a really impressing one.

6. Martins Ferry

Between the two single releases, Reid and Henry take us to Martins Ferry. Levon Henry adds a special touch with saxophones and clarinets to this song. The song, by the way is dedicated and written about the Purlitzer price-winning US lyricist James Arlington Wright, who was born on 13th December 1927 in Martins Ferry, Ohio.

7. Weather Rose

It tells a lot about Life And Time that this song, Weather Rose, is in fact the only one for which drums have been used. The song stays very piano driven, the rhythm is just used to emphasize some dramatic parts of the song. A very catching song.

8. Whoever We Are

Whoever We Are comes with a mandolin and a lap steel guitar. Nonetheless, there are just limited country music vibes, the key character of piano ballads with a singer-songwriter style stay. A rather slow song, which has a very strong intensity and an interesting style due to its instrumentation.

I rush to the still-waiting
wagons and hold
my trunk of old letters,
a child in my arms—
Resting my head
the shadow unfolds,
telling the truth
to whoever we are

9. City Of Light

I talk in my sleep
from the dark and the deepest
of dream, and only know it by you—
who waits and abides
with a foot on each side
of worlds real and unreal while you do.

City Of Light is Mike Reid and his piano only. This leads to an even more direct, personal style. And together with the storytelling of the two writers, the song simply does not need more than that.

10. Leaning House

For Leaning House, there is another guest vocalist on Life and Time. This time, the Canadian folk singer-songwriter Rose Cousins recorded her part of the song. Again, this leads to a nice, different flavor and style. The tenth song of the album is also very interesting from a melodic perspective and fascinates with a beautiful plot. Thus, it is one of my favorites of the album.

11. History

My room at the St. John Hotel
looks out over the sea;
the ruined railway station,
the dry ice factory.
A snow now falls upon it all
–the weight of history…
and tonight I know that I will dream of you

The eleventh track has a rather melancholic feel. Counting every fallen leaf, each hawk, each bitter tear… and tonight I know that I will dream of you – Reid and Henry simply know how to tell these kind of stories well. Towards the end of the song, History feels a bit more harmonic.

12. So We May

The last four minutes of this collaborative debut by Reid and Henry is taken by So We May. The song feels like a perfect farewell tunes, which has a special touch, but does not separate too much from the other songs on this album. A lovely finale.

 

Mike Reid & Joe Henry – Life and Time – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

 

Mike Reid & Joe Henry – Life and Time – My View

It feels like a shame that Mike Reid did not release an album for thirteen years. In this collaboration with Joe Henry, she illustrates that he is still a fascinating performer. The two artists compiled a lovely album. Very calm songs, but with an excellence storytelling and arrangement. I really love their collaboration debut Life and Time.

Favorite Song: Room

 

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