April 14, 2004
Doss counts on music
Ex-banker trades executive power suits for Gibson guitar dreams
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
In a quintessential collision of worlds, Henry Doss came home from work one day, wearing his high power banking executive suit with a Gibson Nighthawk guitar cradled in his arms. A Park practice amp completed the surge of musical fate.
His astute wife snapped his picture, gently poking fun at the buttoned down rock 'n' roll juxtaposition. Although he did not yet realize it, the 47-year-old high achiever and self-described Type A person was on the cusp of a new life. Within two years he had left the executive suite behind and launched a musical career that surprises even himself.
"I don't play the guitar that well, probably sing even worse," he said with self-effacing humor, noting that he is competent. "But it's true that anything good is 99 percent work and one percent talent. I've got the 99 percent, I don't know about anything else, but I think that hard work will make up for an awful lot of shortcomings."
Behind his perceived shortcomings is an obvious 'something' that resonates with listeners, who connect with Doss' direct lyrics, youthful voice and energetic melodies. Somehow one of his CDs made it over to England and caught on there; a popular radio host there even dubbed him the Unsigned Artist of the Week for the song "I've Been Thinking."
"As any insecure starting musician, any word of praise is like manna from Heaven," noted Doss, who moved to northern Michigan in 2002.
Although he relished his lengthy and successful banking career, which he concluded as a senior vice president, Doss was ready for a new direction. His so-called retirement from banking in February 2002 quickly mutated into numerous business and musical ventures as boredom set in. A very high-energy and focused person, he also consults in the business field, with his 'part-time' weeks of 30-40 hours equaling the total hours of most workers.
Then there's the music: playing it, writing it, recording it and marketing it.
As a savvy businessman with decades of creative experience at shaping projects, Doss already has multiple recordings to his credit. His back-up band on the recordings and for gigs includes local musicians as well as nationally known figures. Doss credits these and other musicians with helping to shape his success so far.
"My music just wouldn't come into being without guidance, support, coaching and encouragement of musicians who are better than me," he said.
Doss has also forged a dynamic creative alliance with an up-and-coming British musician, Emma Rugg. The two will record another compact disc over the next two weeks at Frontier Studio in Copemish. During her visit to the area, they also plan to hit the popular open mic night at The Big Easy in Traverse City.
"Emma is a beautiful 21-year-old kid from Hull and I'm a beat up 51 year old guy with a guitar," he said. "You'd think, 'what would we have in common?,' yet in the few hours she spent here we had a friendship."
Doss has no illusions about the future: he firmly believes Rugg's talent will launch her to stardom and leave him in the dust. And that's just fine with him.
"The truth is, she's going to be a star and as a matter of fact, I think she's going to break out this year," he said. "She's got talent, she's got a work ethic, she's stubborn and very independent. She does everything, plays everything. I'm in awe, being able to work with someone like her."
Doss said their latest session at Frontier Studios will record five songs, two of his and two of hers as well as a duet. The individual tunes for each of them will include one ballad and one rock song.
Doss taps his life for lyrics, writing songs about his grown daughters or his wife, Chris Arvidson. Composing mostly on the guitar, some songs come to him easily and others are a struggle. One song, a love song to his wife entitled "Remnants of Conversation" took a whole summer to write; another called "Simple Consolation" took an hour and a half.
Compared to the rigors and creative challenges of banking, however, being a musician is far more challenging than anything he has ever tried before.
"They're both equally attractive and compelling in different ways, but music is harder," Doss said. "It is a lot more work, more frightening to me. You're a different person when you're 47 years old, you have a lot of creative impediments saying you shouldn't be doing this."
For more information on Henry Doss, visit online at www.henrydoss. com; for more information on Emma Rugg, visit the web site www.emmarugg.com