Gary Hensley is an Americana, Singer-Songwriter who has been playing guitar and writing songs since he was a teenager in Indiana. CanJoe*John, of the Mountain Matinee radio program, has coined his style of music as 'Appalachia-cana' because Hensley has made his home in East Tennessee, and has been influenced by the area where his family came from. Currently to date Gary has released 11 album projects: Give A Little Back, Wright's Corner, Bristol to Memphis, The Gary Hensley Band Live, Appalachian Gold & No Crawfish Digital 45, Appalachian Gold, Just Me, Honk If You Like, Live From The BoneYard, Gary Hensley Volume One, and his latest, I’ll Leave The Light On. Over the years Gary has been playing listening rooms and festivals. Some of the places Hensley played were The Kingsport Renaissance Center, The Jonesborough Repertory Theater, The Down Home, The Blue Plum Festival, Twilight Alive opening for the John Cowan Band, Over the Rhine, The Iguanas, John Cleary, Mike Farris, and Jim Lauderdale. The Virginia Highlands Festival, Music on the Square, Jammin at Hippie Jacks Americana Music Festival, Rail Grass, The Jubilee Music Fest, Savannah Folk Music Society First Friday of Folk, Stateline Jamboree for The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, and The Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival. Also, Hensley has made some appearances on WCYB Channel 5 News, WBIR Channel 10 News, The Blue Plate Special (WDVX 102.9), Roots & Branches Radio Show (WETS 89.5), Studio One with Dave Carter (WETS 89.5) and 96.3 "The Possum", with host CanJoe*John, on the Mountain Matinee radio program.. He also won the WQUT Songwriting Contest back in 97, and finished first in the country division at the Richard Leigh Songwriters Festival in 2014 for his song Appalachian Gold.
