From soldier to singer | Arts & Community

Hensley was raised in Newnan and graduated from Northgate High School in 2006. He always loved music growing up and almost 17 years later he’s got some music of his own for everyone to listen to.

“We grew up a little lower income here in the county,” Hensley said. “So I didn’t really have the opportunity to make music when I was younger.”

It wasn’t until Hensley enlisted in the U.S. Army, when he got his first start in music.

“Somebody at the church I was going to at that time, bought me a guitar,” Hensley said. “They heard I wanted to learn how to play.”

Hensley took the guitar with him to Iraq and taught himself how to play during his time there. Hensley worked in airfield operations for the Army putting people on helicopters and planes because it was too dangerous to drive throughout Iraq, due to the excessive use of IEDs at that time.

“We’d move like 150,000 people in a year, it was a lot,” Hensley said. “12 hours a day every day, and then you’d work out, play guitar and go to sleep.”

After his time in Iraq, Hensley decided to go back to college at the University of West Georgia.

“It wasn’t really for me, but I met my wife,” Hensley said. “I left school and Sarah stayed and got her degree in early childhood education.”

Hensley took a job with the Gwinnett County Police Department in 2010. He would work there for five years with the DUI Task Force. This didn’t leave much time for music.

“I played in worship bands in college, when I got to policing it was an all in kinda deal,” Hensley said.

After the birth of their first child in 2015, they moved back to Coweta…