# Henry Wolfe
**Henry Wolfe** (born 1979) is the performing name of Henry Wolfe Gummer, an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles who writes melody-first pop drawing on 1970s West Coast rock, jazz standards, and [Brill Building](https://www.edgepedia.org/brill-building)-style songcraft. He is the son of actress [Meryl Streep](https://www.edgepedia.org/meryl-streep) and sculptor [Don Gummer](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-gummer), and he records and performs under his middle name rather than his family name.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/henry-wolfe/297040148) • [2](https://avclub.com/henry-wolfe-1798225564)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Henry Wolfe Gummer; Wolfe is his middle name, Gummer his surname[2](https://avclub.com/henry-wolfe-1798225564) |
| Born | 1979, United States; genre listed as Alternative[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/henry-wolfe/297040148) |
| Family | Son of Meryl Streep and sculptor Don Gummer; two of his three sisters are actors[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) |
| Debut album | *Linda Vista*, released 5 April 2011 on the Under Mountain label[4](https://vintage.grcmc.org/wyce/Reviews/cart//article/2717/linda-vista-henry-wolfe) |
| Second album | *Asilomar* (2015)[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/henry-wolfe/297040148) |
| Film placements | "Stop the Train" on the *Julie & Julia* soundtrack (2007); "For the Turnstiles" featured in *Ricki and the Flash* (2015)[5](https://www.insoundtrack.com/musician/henry-wolfe) |
| Stated influences | Paul McCartney, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) |
## Background and family
Wolfe grew up in Los Angeles and [Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/connecticut) in what he describes as a creative family: his mother is the actress Meryl Streep, his father is the visual artist Don Gummer, and two of his three sisters are actors as well.[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) • [6](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/exclusive-music-video-premiere-encino-henry-wolfe) He has said he may be the only musician in his immediate family, though his grandfather wrote songs as a hobby and chose a day job to raise a family.[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) • [7](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/)
He began writing songs after receiving a guitar for his 14th birthday. After college, which he completed at Dartmouth, he moved to New York City and formed the band Bravo Silva, which released a self-titled debut album and dissolved a year later.[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) • [6](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/exclusive-music-video-premiere-encino-henry-wolfe) After the breakup he said he found himself with "the unique opportunity to expand my horizons as a songwriter. I no longer had to write songs that fit into a mold."
## The stage name
Wolfe performs under his middle name. In a 2011 A.V. Club interview he explained that he considered billing himself as Henry Wolfe Gummer, but the full name seemed like a mouthful, and Henry Gummer alone invited mispronunciation. He also noted a practical advantage: a name that is not the one in his high school yearbook gives a performer flexibility in how he is perceived.[2](https://avclub.com/henry-wolfe-1798225564) Asked by American Songwriter whether his mother's fame motivated the choice, he answered simply that Wolfe was the middle name he was given, "so I thought I might as well use it."[7](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/)
## Linda Vista and the Los Angeles years
Wolfe moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and settled in Laurel Canyon, the neighborhood whose 1970s singer-songwriter scene reviewers heard echoed in his debut. He wrote most of the songs for *Linda Vista* while living there, and the album takes its name from the street he drove up daily to the recording studio.[8](https://lamag.com/news/my-la-to-z-henry-wolfe1/) • [9](https://www.thepitchkc.com/henry-wolfe/)
**Recording.** He produced the album with Nico Aglietti and Aaron Older, both members of [Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-sharpe-and-the-magnetic-zeros), working around their schedule over roughly three years; the two had just finished that band's record *Up From Below* when he arrived in Los Angeles and then toured for a year before sessions began in the winter of 2010.[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) • [7](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/) The album was recorded on an Ampex 24-track tape machine on 2-inch tape and mixed down to 1/2-inch, with digitization only at mastering, a choice Wolfe described as deliberate: "Sonically, the record doesn't have a lot in common with contemporary music you'd hear on the radio."
**Influences.** Two records given to him around the move, [Paul McCartney](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-mccartney)'s *Ram* and [Harry Nilsson](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-nilsson)'s *Nilsson Sings Newman*, opened up the work of Nilsson, Randy Newman, and post-Beatles McCartney, whose humor and wit in lyrics he cites as a particular influence.[7](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/) In Los Angeles he also played jazz and pop standards on piano at a downtown lounge, and he has said he teaches himself jazz standards because their chord changes are more complex than those of typical rock or folk songs.[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/) • [7](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/)
**Reception.** Reviewers placed the album in a lineage of melodic 1970s pop. The WYCE review called it "one of the most genuinely soulful records I have heard in a long time" and recommended "Someone Else," "Used to Be," and "Stop the Train."[4](https://vintage.grcmc.org/wyce/Reviews/cart//article/2717/linda-vista-henry-wolfe) The Pitch described his folk songs as blended with a jazzy cabaret and Brill Building pop vibe, noting a crisp tenor reminiscent of [Rufus Wainwright](https://www.edgepedia.org/rufus-wainwright) and calling the swing of his baroque pop the album's most alluring quality.[9](https://www.thepitchkc.com/henry-wolfe/) KCRW featured him as a "Local Band We Love" in March 2011, highlighting the intensity of his songs alongside what his bio calls a "perennially laid back persona," and noting his monthly residency at The Standard Hollywood.[10](https://www.kcrw.com/stories/henry-wolfe-local-band-we-love) The Deli's review described the music as middle-of-the-road seventies pop with a wink of nostalgia, but "anything but ironic," reading his slick delivery as a vehicle for the pains of unrequited love.[11](https://thedelimag.com/henry-wolfes-delightful-pop-crosses-generations/)
## Later releases
"Stop the Train" appeared on the *Julie & Julia* soundtrack in 2007, and his cover of [Neil Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-young)'s "For the Turnstiles" was featured in the 2015 film *[Ricki and the Flash](https://www.edgepedia.org/ricki-and-the-flash)*, which starred his mother.[5](https://www.insoundtrack.com/musician/henry-wolfe) • [10](https://www.kcrw.com/stories/henry-wolfe-local-band-we-love)
In 2014 he released the four-song *Encino* EP, his first EP since *Linda Vista*, produced by Thom Monahan with a rhythm section of Josh Adams, Keith Karmen, and Tyler Cash; one track, "All I think About is You," was recorded at home in Pacific Grove with Malachi Delorenzo. The title track's video, directed by Ben Kutsko and premiered through MOCAtv, featured actress [Jena Malone](https://www.edgepedia.org/jena-malone). Around the release he toured California with Dawes.[6](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/exclusive-music-video-premiere-encino-henry-wolfe)
His second full-length album, *Asilomar*, followed in 2015, with tracks including "Like Water," "Rose Parade," "Encino," "Surfer Girl," and "The Afterlife."[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/henry-wolfe/297040148) He has since released the singles "Black Thumb" (2019) and "No Time" (2020), and music videos for "All Things Good" (2009) and "Ride The Wave" (2026).[1](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/henry-wolfe/297040148) His Spotify biography describes his sound as fusing 1960s pop and R&B, 1970s singer-songwriter, and 1980s [New Romantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-romantic) elements, with comparisons ranging from [Roxy Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/roxy-music) and [Talk Talk](https://www.edgepedia.org/talk-talk) to Paul Simon and Nina Simone, and states that he is working on his third solo album.[12](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2YFql5yrx8t4yrCVzvD8Cn)
## Songwriting method
Wolfe writes melody first, almost always, and revises extensively; he has said it often takes him years to finish a song and that he will not release one until he considers it finished. For lyrics, he sings gibberish along to nearly finished tracks until he lands on a phrase he likes, then builds the words from that foundation.[7](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/) • [6](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/exclusive-music-video-premiere-encino-henry-wolfe) He told M Music & Musicians that his aim is "indelible pop music, or my version of it," and that unlike bands that build an identity around a sound, "I hang my hat on my songs."[3](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/)
## References
1. [Henry Wolfe, Apple Music artist page](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/henry-wolfe/297040148)
2. [Henry Wolfe interview, The A.V. Club (May 13, 2011)](https://avclub.com/henry-wolfe-1798225564)
3. [Henry Wolfe, M Music & Musicians Magazine, March/April 2011](https://mmusicmag.com/m/2011/08/henry-wolfe/)
4. [Linda Vista review by Devon Cunningham, WYCE Album Reviews](https://vintage.grcmc.org/wyce/Reviews/cart//article/2717/linda-vista-henry-wolfe)
5. [Henry Wolfe songs and soundtracks, InSoundtrack](https://www.insoundtrack.com/musician/henry-wolfe)
6. [Wolfe Tracks, Interview Magazine (October 6, 2014)](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/exclusive-music-video-premiere-encino-henry-wolfe)
7. [Henry Wolfe Q&A, American Songwriter (July 4, 2011)](https://americansongwriter.com/henry-wolfe/)
8. [My LA to Z: Henry Wolfe, LAmag (June 9, 2011)](https://lamag.com/news/my-la-to-z-henry-wolfe1/)
9. [Henry Wolfe, The Pitch (May 24, 2011)](https://www.thepitchkc.com/henry-wolfe/)
10. [Henry Wolfe: Local Band We Love, KCRW (March 31, 2011)](https://www.kcrw.com/stories/henry-wolfe-local-band-we-love)
11. [Henry Wolfe's delightful pop crosses generations, The Deli (December 24, 2011)](https://thedelimag.com/henry-wolfes-delightful-pop-crosses-generations/)
12. [Henry Wolfe, Spotify artist page](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2YFql5yrx8t4yrCVzvD8Cn)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › Indie and alternative pop, 2010s to present › Indie rock and alternative pop artists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license