American Beautiful

Album: American Beautiful (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Heningsens are a family trio comprising father of ten Brian Henningsen (bass, guitar, vocals), his son Aaron (guitar, vocals) and daughter Clara (lead vocals, guitar). They are a seventh generation farm family from rural Atwood, Illinois. The group has written several songs recorded by other artists including The Band Perry's singles "All Your Life" and "You Lie." This American spirit story wrapped up in a love song is their debut single, which The Henningsens co-penned with Brett Beavers. It was released on December 17, 2012.
  • The song's music video is a glimpse into this singing family trio's life on their Illinois farm as they throw a barn party. "We played [music] in barns growing up," Clara explained to The Boot. "Mom and Dad used to make a concert hall out of my aunt and uncle's barn. Folks from our home area in Central Illinois would come into the hayloft and we'd play concerts."
  • The song focuses on a female who's a little unusual. "The girl in the song is me," Clara told Radio.com. "I can honestly say, pretty much every girl I know, all my best friends growing up, all my cousins, all the women I grew up with influencing my life, were unique in their own way… We wrote the song from a lot of people we knew as characters."

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