Valentine’s Day brings the story of a Greenfield man who’s known by two names, as well as the many ways he expresses his creativity and feelings.

A love story began in late adolescence for two locals. When Sara Garfinkel transferred to Mohawk Trail Regional High School, she and Tyronne Henderson became aware of each other, but didn’t really get acquainted until he’d graduated and she was a senior. Friendship led to romance, later blossoming into marriage and beautifully collaborative parenthood.

Today, the Hendersons could be mistaken for just another gorgeous young couple with adorable kids, but these folks are anything but ordinary. An online music video, “Ac,” features a handsome young man with a velvety voice proclaiming love for his wife; photos from throughout their relationship flash on the screen, including wedding pictures and images of their children. This is the work of Tyronne Henderson, who creates professionally under the name Hendersin.

In his home studio, the artist produces hip-hop recordings that attract fans and as well as attention from recording companies and influencers, and he does so in ways that are completely his own.

“I chose the alternate spelling because there are so many Hendersons out there,” he said. “In addition to Hendersin, I’m known by the nickname Henny.” (Throughout this column, alternate spellings are used depending on whether the focus is personal or professional.)

However you spell his name, the 34-year-old’s talents and inner strength have taken him far. Wherever he puts his attention, he proceeds with laser-sharp focus and a fiercely independent spirit.

For a decade, it was basketball: Henderson played year-round from age eight, achieving varsity status in eighth grade. “I’ve been on teams that won league, regional, state and national championships,” he said. A thousand-point scorer at Mohawk, Henderson also played with AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) teams in Vermont and Massachusetts, and a Springfield team that took national first place.

Henderson was also a high jump champ at Mohawk, but his enthusiasm for athletics waned after high school. “Shortly after being recruited for college ball,” he said, “I realized I was done. Ten years is a long time for a kid to play basketball intensely year-round.”

Since early adolescence, Henderson experimented with rap and creating his own hip-hop sounds, and this became a different focus for his high-octane energy as he moved on from sports. With a computerized music program, he created original hip-hop and neo-soul sounds. “I’ve always been drawn to music for its soothing qualities,” he said. “As young as six or seven, I rocked my body for comfort. Music helped me feel grounded and secure.”

Early childhood was difficult for Henderson. Born in Springfield, he was in foster care from age three. Adopted at age six, he grew up in Buckland and Colrain with his family: “My parents, my brother and my sister.” His ability to focus in challenging times emerged from early experiences of disruption. “I learned to steady myself,” he said, “a skill that came in handy.”

Henderson worked at Home Depot in Greenfield while devoting himself to making music. After catching the attention of people in the music business, Henderson embarked on his first tour in 2016. By 2017, however, he and Sara were expecting their first child, and he decided to make music principally from home. “I wanted to make family my priority. My career evolved from that foundation.”

Hendersin’s 2013 hit “All I Got,” from the album “Henny in Ya System,” got the ball rolling. The artist offers a disclaimer: “I grew up in hip-hop, which is a world of shock value. My music has matured. I was never super raunchy, but there’s stuff in ‘All I Got’ that I would skip today.”

Currently, Hendersin spends two intensive days per week in the studio: “I work from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on one day, and 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the other day.” He and Sara both lovingly attend to the needs of their daughter Niah, age five, and son Leo, one-and-a-half. Sara works as a labor and delivery nurse at Baystate Franklin Medical Center.

“I worked at Mercy (Hospital in Springfield) throughout the first year-and-a-half of COVID,” said Sara Henderson, 33. “After I gave birth to Leo at Franklin in 2021, though, I knew I wanted to make a change, and Franklin is just a few blocks from our home.”

Caring for patients during COVID was intense, she said, “but I got through it because of Ty and Niah.” Sara Henderson’s delight in her family is obvious, as is her pride in her husband’s growing success as an artist. “He’s brilliant,” she said, “and he’s the most amazing dad.”

Many Hendersin videos feature local spots. “I Know” shows Greenfield’s Main Street as well as the Energy Park, including a scene of Henny sliding down a handrail at the park’s well-loved rainbow staircase.

Evolving from his start as an artist with a thousand followers to having a fan base of three million and being highly regarded in his field wasn’t always easy, yet Hendersin points to “beautiful mistakes” that facilitated his entry into the hip-hop world. “I got in early,” he said, “in terms of Spotify and Youtube, that sort of thing.”

Hendersin collaborated with childhood friend Corey Ricketts, who trained as a sales and marketing professional within the entertainment industry. “Corey and I met at the Greenfield Center School,” said Hendersin. “Corey used his management abilities to build my reputation, allowing me to focus on the music.” Hendersin started doing shows around the area, including at Northampton’s Iron Horse and Pearl Street. “I opened for Wiz Khalifa, Raekwon, and other luminaries,” he said.

His work was collaborative: “A DJ would bring turntables and microphones to a show, Corey was the hype man, and I rapped over popular beats,” said Hendersin. “But things changed when my sister encouraged me to make my own beats; I taught myself to play the keyboard and now I create nearly all of my own instrumentals.”

Instead of getting sucked into the live show scene, Hendersin focused on creating good music. “I did the club scene for two or three years,” he said, “but wanted to focus on making my own beats and branding. Music blogs became popular. If you got on a college blog, you could get a lot of traffic.”

He started posting his music. “The internet launched my career,” he said. “Posting on the right site at the right time could mean 20,000 downloads for one song.” Hendersin said that while employed at Home Depot, “(my bosses) were very understanding, allowing me to set my schedule so I could do video shoots.” Not yet married, he moved back in with his parents and put out a lot of free mixtapes.

Hendersin could have moved to New York or Boston like many of his hip-hop peers, yet he knew that by applying himself to his craft without distractions, he would move forward in his own way and time. “I wanted to build my reputation in a relatively untapped market,” he said. His discipline paid off.

A Hendersin mixtape titled “No Rhyme or Reason Vol. 2” gained over 10,000 downloads on DatPiff, an online audio distribution platform. He independently released the album “Henny In Ya System” in September of 2013; it peaked at number 85 on iTunes Hip-Hop charts. In August of 2014, he landed the number ten spot on Billboard’s Next Big Sound chart.

Shortly after his Billboard debut, Hendersin’s song “All I Got” went viral. “One day, I heard from someone who worked for a new record label. This guy I’d never heard of told me that my song had reached the Top 100 Hip-Hop songs on iTunes. I didn’t know whether to believe him, but I went online and saw that it was true!”

Within a week, Hendersin heard from big labels, including SONY, Capitol Records, Columbia and RCA. “This all came about because a platform called Vine used my song for a video, and when the video went viral, my song went viral, too. That’s how it works,” he added. “A song goes viral, and everyone wants in on it. At the time, Selim Bouab – now president of 300 Entertainment – was a scout for a record label, and he got in touch with me. Now Selim is huge in the industry.”

When starting out, Hendersin made concrete goals: he aimed to make three major contacts within the music industry, and to reach a certain income threshold. “I met my goals,” he said recently during a tour of his home studio. “Instead of three contacts, I have hundreds. I quit working at Home Depot, and I’m completely independent.”

Henderson says the only downside to being independent is that he misses “some connections with the machine, like Spotify playlisting. But I own all my masters and songs, which means I get a much bigger split. I have a small but loyal fan base that buys my music and helps support me.”

The delightful voices of young children waft up the stairs; peals of laughter transfer to the face of a loving dad. His tender smile makes it clear that being a man who came through challenges and wrote his own ticket is just where Tyronne Henderson wants to be.

To find his work online: search for “Hendersinmusic” on Youtube or “Hendersin” on Spotify.

Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope” and a musician, artist, and mom. She can be reached at eveline@amandlachorus.org.

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