NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We all have that person in our life who truly made us who we are. One local woman tells us that was her dad. The journey to finish a special project between the two is an incredible one. It's a story spanning years and many miles.
On a Saturday afternoon, it was showtime at Keg Springs Winery. Jennifer Henderson and band Cochise County was onstage. Jennifer's passion for music started with a place and a person.
"Dad says we were a ventriloquist act, and I was just his dummy," she laughed, flipping through old pictures. "He's so handsome, even with that weird mustache."
Certain sounds just remind Jennifer so much of her dad, Bob Henderson. Those sounds include a late afternoon in that hometown of Wardell, Missouri. Nothing reminds Jennifer of her dad quite like the sound of a Dr. Pepper being poured.
"Dr. Pepper's a huge deal in our family," Jennifer smiled. "Dad used to let me go out and sing with him, and that's since I was a baby. There's nobody greater. Like, he is my hero."
Music took the two to stages all over Missouri and Tennessee.
"It's awesome," Jennifer continued. "Nobody inspires me like he does. I've had COVID, and I didn't get it like dad got it."
One of our visits with Jennifer was two years ago in Jonesboro, Arkansas. At the time, Bob's local hospital in Missouri was too full, so he was moved to another one miles away in Jonesboro.
"The whole time dad's been in the hospital, I bring him a Dr. Pepper every day," Jennifer told us in 2021. "He asked me to tell them he was ready to be put on a ventilator. The last thing I asked them to do was give him a drink of Dr. Pepper before. I sing to him, and I hold his hand."
Three days after this 2021 interview, Jennifer's dad, Bob Henderson, died.
It's now been two years since we last saw Jennifer.
"For a long time, I made it my mission to preach about getting the vaccine," Jennifer said. "My dad was a strapping, healthy man, and COVID took him in 10 days. I wish everybody got to know him 'cause he was a good guy."
"He was in the middle of recording this album when he got sick," she continued.
The songs Bob recorded for an unfinished project were things he'd written over decades. Jennifer knew this music could not stay unfinished.
"I went in and recorded harmonies posthumously," she said.
Today, Bob Henderson's album, "Little White Church" is out.
"It's pretty amazing having that in my hand to hold," Jennifer said of the album. "Hearing my dad's voice on the radio there in southeast Missouri is pretty amazing. Having my dad streaming, it's pretty cool. I'm proud of my heritage. I'm proud of who I am."
Bob Henderson's album, "Little White Church," is out on Apple Music.
