By Terry Paul Roland
With the new EP release, Instant Multiversal Emergency Eradication, prolific singer-songwriter, Henry Zhao, echoes of Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello are clear, but a deeper drink of this artist’s work and a glance at his recent struggles with a neurological disorder that affects his mental health challenges reveal a unique and universal artist who walks the razor’s edge of his own destiny.
In an age when authentic folk rock singer-songwriters often emerge from metropolitan Americana roots music scenes, outsider artist Henry Zhao’s story comes off as ironic as it is surprising. Raised in the Los Angeles shadow, Arcadia, most known for its famous horse racing track and as a freeway-drive-by town on the way to San Bernardino, Zhao grew up part of its Asian majority population. The environment gave Zhao a good taste of Hong Kong and Taiwanese pop-rock, but little familiarity with the American roots music he’s come to embrace.
I first learned of Zhao through his 2019 eponymous release produced by veteran producer and legendary bassman, Chad Watson. The collection of songs were influenced by the early folk twang of Bob Dylan, yet forged a clear, original distinction that was engaging and entertaining. His debut allowed Zhao to move from a masterful imitator of Dylan, to an original artist in his own right with a limitless future ahead.
The album led to appearances at Kulak’s Woodshed in North Hollywood and Bob Stane’s Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena. It was there on an autumn evening where legendary troubadour, and sole Townes Van Zandt collaborator, Eric Andersen, invited Zhao onstage for a guest appearance. Dylan’s violinist, Scarlet Rivera, who made her reputation on Dylan’s classic album, Desire, was in Andersen’s band that night. She was so impressed with Zhao’s set, she took him aside and told him, “You made Bob Dylan proud!”
Zhao’s new EP, Instant Multiversal Emergency Eradication, released on his birthday, this year, July 27, came about like a high speed race. It could have easily been the basis of a Forties film noir, titled D.O.A on Wheels. A four-song collection, his EP of original punchy, catchy folk-rock songs call to mind a musical meeting of Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan. Three of the songs clock in at under two minutes. The fourth song, “Lay Me Down,” features a pub-friendly singalong chorus, delivering a modern folk vibe with a beautiful fiddle solo and the warm, engaging undertow of a well-played mandolin. The song, the centerpiece of this collection, is well framed by the punk energy laced teen-idol era inspired song, “Christina” and the power-pop rock drive of Green Day, Billy Bragg & early Elvis Costello with the songs, “Grammy Girl” and the urgent, “Freeborn Man.” But, the sessions and release of these songs came at a great price for Henry Zhao.
The recording of the EP was accomplished while Zhao raced against the certainty of unwanted symptoms of the illness that has challenged this vital artist. In recent years, Zhao was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder. It became evident through a cluster of nerve based and behavioral symptoms that his team of doctors and medical professionals have called “one of the worst brain disorders recorded by advanced brain imaging, ever.” There is no official diagnostic label for it, but this disorder has shown symptoms similar to Tourette’s Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Somatoform Disorder and Chronic Pain Syndrome. It preys on Zhao’s neurology in unpredictable and often frustrating ways including halting his creative process in the middle of a project.
Zhao’s neurological debilitation has put him in a chronic medical emergency. Despite improvement from past experimental treatment, he suffers muscular loss of autonomy, severe anxiety, and the constant threat of an extreme unbearable episode of what he calls “infinite, nameless torture.” He continues to fight, but the prognosis is unclear.
The dilemma for Zhao as an artist is that his symptoms are often triggered by the very acts of creativity that bring him such joy. When he writes, plays guitar, performs, or records original songs, his symptoms can sneak up on him and end the work he has done so well in the past.
Zhao’s obsessiveness, prior to his debilitation from the condition, was clear from his youth. When he began writing songs, the disorder wouldn’t let any lyric feel right, so he would spend countless hours writing, but was never able to feel satisfied, instead, failing with exhaustion. The songwriting itself became a driving, unending compulsion.
“There is a relationship in my songwriting as part compulsion and part of my spontaneous passion,” Zhao says. “Like Van Gogh creating a new painting every thirty-six hours, I was writing three songs a day because my muscles felt hollow, and at the same time, I felt like I was going to explode if I didn’t. I had no other outlet.”
The evening of July 27, 2025 Jeweled Universe in Arcadia, a jewelry shop and musical venue for local Americana-roots artists, hosted a rare public display of Henry’s rebellious nature. It also was an act of courage on his part, to perform the songs for this combination birthday celebration, fundraiser, and release party for the new EP. With critical and compassionate studio and live support from his friends, Jimmy and Tony Licata (also known as, The Licata Brothers), the show became reality with a capacity audience of fans, friends, and family.
“This was potentially my final performance, pushing through my cognitive and physical symptoms one final time,” Zhao says. He began with a brief solo set of the solo original songs that gained him recognition, and then transitioned into a full band tribute to classic American and Cantonese rock songs. After bringing along surprise guests Yundi Tian (Nice Machine) and Joanna Connie Tan, who performed Taiwan and American classics, the show ended with the performance of the four songs from Instant Multiversal Emergency Eradication. An encore of the rock ‘n’ roll classic, “Twist and Shout” was performed to a standing ovation. Many in the audience called the show Zhao’s “best live performance” to date.
For 26 year-old Henry Zhao, music is not a cure. Still, time and time again, we see the alchemy of suffering transformed from reality into art and music that stands the test of time. While music may not save the world, Henry Zhao’s story is an example of an attempt to fight suffering and as Zhao puts it “either win a few skirmishes or die trying.” It’s fair to say, for an artist with one of the worst brain disorders in recorded history, the release of Instant Multiversal Emergency Eradication, and his live performance is a small, but unqualified victory.
Spotify | Henry Zhao YouTube | All-Suffering Youtube
Terry Roland
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