Henry Hample is a fiddler and music teacher born in New Rochelle, NY, in 1960. He started classical piano and cello lessons at age 7, then switched to guitar and harmonica at age 9 after writing in his 3rd grade memory book, "I plan to be a folk singer when I grow up." On a whim, his dad gave him a fiddle for his 16th birthday and Henry taught himself to play, developing a hard-edged style somewhere between bluegrass and rock.

After episodes as a hippie in Vermont and a punk rocker in California, he studied English literature at NYU, then received a master's degree in ethnomusicology from Brown University. During this period, he played with Washboard Jungle and other folk and bluegrass bands.

In 2001, he was thrown out of a Bourbon Street bar for attempting to sit in with a Cajun band, so he resolved to learn Cajun fiddle. He moved to Louisiana in 2007 and has gigged with more than 50 different accordion players by now, including hall-of-famers Jesse Lege, Sheryl Cormier, and August Broussard.

He is currently a member of the Has Beans, Don Fontenot & Friends of Louisiana, and several other Cajun bands. He is a full-time music teacher at Berchmans Academy in Grand Coteau, and has also taught music for Louisiana Folk Roots, the Cajun French Music Association, LSU-Eunice, and South Louisiana Community College.

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