Terri Hendrix
Kathy Sands-Boehmer recently posed questions to this gifted artist.
Terri Hendrix is a treasure. She’s the epitome of the hard-working musician who hits the road with her bag of tricks — whether it’s to teach young and old musicians about the creative process or entertaining audiences far and wide. How can you not love and respect someone like Terri who said this about her recent album: “With The Spiritual Kind I had one goal — make my fan base happy and satisfied that they spent a bit of their gas money on my music. I think we succeeded.” Check out Terri’s music on her website at www.terrihendrix.com.
I don’t think I’ve ever interviewed a Grammy Award winner before. So, you’ve got to tell us . . . where’s your statue?
It was the Dixie Chicks who have the statue. It was for a song called “Little Jack Slade” that I wrote after seeing Natalie McMaster in concert. It’s a fiddle tune and I wrote it with fiddle in mind.
Problem is, I don’t play fiddle. Lloyd [Maines, father of Dixie Chick Natalie] produced the Chick’s record, Home, and they needed something like what I had. They put their own stamp on it and it ended up being a collaboration.
I lucked out. But I feel good about the luck. I have worked real hard for it (smile). Oh, as for the “Grammy” mine came by way as a certificate of which I promptly gave to my sister. She has it hanging in her home.
Your “Life’s a Song” workshops with Lloyd Maines sound truly inspirational. Can you explain a little about what you do in them and if you have any special memories about any of your workshop attendees?
It is so much fun. We focus on getting in the “groove” of writing. Then focus on the business. Really, it’s all over the map. I enjoy it as I always learn a little something too. It’s a way to get charged up about the whole creative process. For me, I wear many hats in this business, but what keeps me jazzed is the music. It starts and stops with a song. And that’s my job at these workshops . . . to get the songs out.
I read your Terri Hendrix Goatnotes with great delight.But maybe I haven’t been a long enough reader or fan of your music, so I need to ask: Why Goatnotes?
I appreciate you reading the GoatNotes. Many years ago I worked for a woman who had me milk her goats in exchange for guitar lessons. She taught me Mississippi John Hurt style . . . it was way worth it.
So, I named my first record (Willory Farm, which Lloyd produced in 1997) after her place in the hill country in Texas. Then, my record label “Wilory Records” and then the writing stuff has always been lumped together as GoatNotes. It’s been baa-hhh-d in a good way, since 1996 (smile).
One reviewer described your music as a combination of folk, pop, country, blues, Latin, and country swing. That’s quite a mix especially considering that you received (but turned down) an opera scholarship. Ever think of taking a traditional opera and morphing it into your own unique production?
I actually tried the opera route for about two years on that scholarship. I was unwilling to work at it (yikes . . . youth). But these days, I find myself revisiting some of what I learned and yes, I would like to use it in something. It’s a totally different way to sing. Really wild.
What’s on the horizon for Terri Hendrix?
I’m working on a jazz record and a follow up to my last record, The Spiritual Kind and Left Over Alls.
Like many of us, Kathy Sands-Boehmer wears many hats. An editor by profession, she also operates Harbortown Music and books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In her spare time, Kathy can be found at local music haunts all over New England. This and many previous Q & A interviews with performing artists are archived at www.meandthee.org/blogtxp/. This one, several previous Q &As, and future ones also will be archived here on AcousticMusicScene.com.
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