© Dylan Sanford
DON HENLEY’S
Two Waldens
A
Artists, transcendentalists, abolitionists, civil rights advocates, and revolutionaries have been drawn to Concord from its very earliest days. There’s something in the air here…or perhaps it’s the ancient waters of places like Walden Pond…that moves a person to take action to protect this place. We sat down with musician and passionate conservationist Don Henley, a founding member of the legendary band The Eagles, to learn more about what moved a native Texan to save a place that was precious to one of his own role models – Concord’s Henry David Thoreau. You have had a brilliant career – both as a founding member of The Eagles, and also 12
Discover CONCORD
| Summer 2021
as a solo artist. Where do you draw the inspiration for your music? I get ideas and inspiration from lived experience. This includes literature, poetry, film, music, nature, travel, and human interaction. Sometimes that experience is negative, and sometimes it’s positive. Attentiveness is a key component of creativity – the kind of focus and concentration that Thoreau demonstrated during his time at Walden. Thoreau said, “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” We are living in an age of distraction. We’re constantly being bombarded by myriad stimuli, most of them electronic. In order to concentrate, to hear that “small
voice” inside us, we have to learn how to filter, to buffer. Getting out into nature is one of the best ways to clear the head and renew the spirit. I’ve found that ideas for songs come to me when I’m working with my hands, doing relatively simple tasks like washing dishes, gardening, or chopping firewood. How have you stayed connected to your music during COVID? Touring came to a screeching halt in March of 2020. This might seem odd, but the pandemic has given me a welcome respite from my music and provided an opportunity to listen to other people’s music, both old and new. When The Eagles are constantly
