Joey and Andy Siara began playing with current drummer Eric Scott in 2002 under the name "Vallejo by Knife," which they changed in 2005 to The Henry Clay People. They have toured the United States multiple times, and have performed at
Lollapalooza,
SXSW,
Austin City Limits Festival,
Coachella,
Riot Fest,
Sasquatch Music Festival, and
Bunbury Music Festival In March 2010, original drummer Eric Scott rejoined the band for the summer 2010 U.S. Tour with
Silversun Pickups and
Against Me! Their album
Blacklist the Kid with the Red Moustache was recorded in Portland and Montreal in 2006 by Colin Stewart and
Howard Bilerman and was self released in 2007. Their next album
For Cheap or For Free was recorded in 2008 in Los Angeles by Dave Newton, Joe Napolitano, and
Matt Molchany at The Ship studio in
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles and released in November 2008 on
Autumn Tone Records, an indie label started by the music blog
Aquarium Drunkard. In March 2010, they announced that their next record will be released June 8 on
TBD Records. They released "Somewhere on the Golden Coast" on
tbd Records in June 2010 and followed the release by touring the U.S. with
Silversun Pickups and
Against Me!. In Fall 2010 they toured the U.S. with
Drive-By Truckers, followed by a headlining tour with The Dig opening. In April 2011 they were guests on the Sklar Brother's podcast
Sklarbro Country along with
Amy Poehler. That same month they played the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and released
This Is A Desert EP on
TBD Records. In April 2012, they announced the title and release date of their new full-length record,
Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives, recorded, mixed and coproduced by
Dan Long. "We wanted to finally make the record that our sixteen year old selves would have been excited about," says Joey. "Unfortunately the only way to do so was to live for the last 13 years and get some adult suffering under our belt. Now we can direct our misguided teenage angst at our failed 20s." On June 26, 2012, they released
Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives on
TBD Records.
Consequence of Sound gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars saying to "Add The Henry Clay People to this short list of bands defiantly waving rock and roll's weathered flag in 2012" along with
Japandroids and
Deer Tick.
Paste Magazine calls it a "blitzkrieg (bop) of a record, a gasping sprint through 11 songs in just 31 minutes—frenetic and kinetic; bratty, naive, unapologetically nostalgic, a celebration of youth, rock 'n' roll, and playing rock 'n' roll while clinging to youth." They spent most of 2012 touring around the new record. They are the "unofficial house band" of the Atlanta podcast
Stuff You Should Know. The band has appeared in film and on television. The Henry Clay People were featured in the 2009 film,
Timer, with two of their songs appearing on the soundtrack. Joey and Andy portrayed "Retch" and "Zuckerman" the roommates and bandmates of the character Mikey. However, in the film the band was known as Truckbeef, which was the name of the film's production company. The song "Elly Vs The Eczema Princess" was performed in a bar scene in the film, but was called "Mom, Can I Call You Back? I Have to Dispose of the Body." The Henry Clay People were also featured in a 2010 episode of the television series
Parenthood entitled "Date Night." The band appeared in the episode as themselves and a portion of the episode was said to be set at The Henry Clay People's album release party. The songs "This Ain't a Scene" and "Working Part-Time" were played on the show. The Henry Clay People broke up in 2013. They played their last show on August 17, 2013 at Echo Park Rising in Los Angeles. == Discography ==