Meet the opening act of Bellingham’s Northwest Tune-Up: Henry Mansfield
Seattle-based musician Henry Mansfield won Doc Swinson’s Opening Act Contest at the Wild Buffalo on March 5. He and his band won the opportunity to perform at Bellingham’s Northwest Tune-Up bike and music festival on July 10-12.
The Bellingham Herald sat down with Mansfield for a conversation about his band, his music roots and where he draws his inspiration. Here is part of that conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did you get into the music-making industry?
A: When I was a kid, my parents had this old upright piano in their house, and I wandered over to it one day. They had these big, slick books of, Beatles and Elton John songs and laminated chord sheets. It was a lot of monkey see monkey do for a while where I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to figure this out.’ It felt fun just to discover it. I have one of those neurodivergent brains that gets so much reward from stumbling around in this world and knocking into things and seeing what I can find by doing that.
Q: You write all your own music. Where does some inspiration come from?
A: A couple of years ago, a friend told me ‘Henry, all your songs are about connection.’ I never thought about it that way, but that lens has been really useful. I think as someone who struggles to make sense of the way people connect sometimes, but who also creates thoughtful connection and meaningful relationship, I'm fascinated, by ways people connect in or don’t connect and vice versa.
I write a lot of love songs because I’m a romantic at heart. It’s in there, for sure. I’ve been interested in songs where I’m just trying to talk about something that I find meaningful, thoughtful and something a little deeper, while also wrapping it up in a kind of accessible container. I call them pill-in-the-cheese songs.
My song ‘Lover Boy’, for example, is my attempt to explore what I’ve personally experienced, and I think many people have experienced and done. If you don’t have a well-developed self-esteem, you’re going to keep looking for the parts of yourself that are missing in every romantic partner you have. I hear a lot of people go through that, or be on the other end of that, and how the idea is, as cliché as it is, you do have to turn inward and find satisfaction with yourself before you can expect to enter a satisfying relationship. I think dressing that subject up in a poppy, danceable, enjoyable framework has given people a lot of reason to stay with that song and sit with that message a little bit longer.
Q: I’d love to get to know your band, tell me about them!
A: I love my band. I’m very lucky to have them. Dylan, our guitar player, has been around the longest. I met them in college in Boston, and they’ve played with me since 2019. They are an absurdly talented producer and songwriter and performer in their own right. I’m very lucky to have them.
There’s Sunny, who I met two or three years ago as a suggestion from another player. I was like, ‘I need a trumpet player for this gig’ and Sunny was a suggestion. Sunny trained as a vaudeville theater performer, which you can probably tell by how much he’s running around all the different corners of the room he can find. He’s a joyful, thoughtful, well articulated person to talk to, so very lucky to have Sunny as well.
We’ve got Alex back on drums, who’s a very prolific and creative guy in the local Seattle scene. He grew up in Bellingham.
We’ve got Rob on bass, who’s a buddy of mine. We’ve played together for about a year and a half or so now.
Our saxophone player the night of the contest— her name was Emily. She was a sub because our usual sax player, Nikhita, lives down in Phoenix. When we got accepted into the battle of the bands last-minute, the flight prices were too high for them to join us. We were bummed to not have Nikhita up to play with us, but Emily was a fantastic presence. I always admire the people who you can hand sheet music, and they’ll just nail it.
Q: Do you have anything you can tease for Northwest Tune-Up?
A: I don’t want to say anything and then promise anything that I can’t deliver on. We definitely have a few interactive ideas in mind that aren’t yet to full completion.
Veronica North and I are talking about her maybe coming to sing a song or two with us at Northwest Tune-Up, which I think would be super fun because she really put her whole heart into it.
But I think taking advantage of being in such a big space with that many people, that’s definitely something we’re trying to see if we can logistically pull off.
You can find more of Mansfield’s music, upcoming shows and bio on his website and social media.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 5:00 AM.