July 2008

Photo Credit from left to right of Lloyd, me, Paul, and Glenn: 

Ron Baker (taken at Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas)

First off,

I hope you had a wonderful and safe July 4th Independence Day weekend. I relaxed and spent the weekend with friends. I feel all caught up on sleep, laundry, and household chores and am ready to roll again. 

As many of you know, I've had the honor and privilege of working with Glenn Fukunaga (Bass) and Paul Pearcy (Drums) for the past decade. We've had a whole lot of fun playing together and the contribution they've made to my records and live shows has been beyond anything I ever could have imagined. I think above all else, what has mattered most to me though is the type of people they were to work with which went above the norm as they were pro's. Simply put ... rock solid pro's. 

But in June, Paul's health took a detour and although he's back on his feet our grueling road-work is no longer in the cards for him. He needs to mend and build his health back up. While we were in Washington, we received a call from Glenn that he needed to take care of health matters with his son, who lives in Hawaii. He had to fly out to Hawaii and he will miss the remainder of this month's shows. 

We have found other musicians to fill the dates they can't play, and although it won't be them ... everyone we will be working with in the future will be of their same mold and caliber. They will be good, solid, kind, and creative musicians. I know you'll welcome whoever is on stage with me as you always have with genuine enthusiasm. And I sincerely appreciate that time proven fact. 

It's been a great decade working together and although it's not my forte, I've learned to embrace change as it's inevitable in this career in which we live, eat, sleep, and breathe. 

Please keep Glenn and Paul in your thoughts and prayers and as always, thanks for your continued support of my musical journey. 

Happy Trails,

Terri Hendrix

6/29/08 Sunday Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Home

My alarm beat me to Lloyd's wake-up knock on the door. I said "no way" to breakfast and slept in a few more minutes. I yet again dressed in stinky sweaty clothes and we made our way towards the shuttle bus. Lloyd had to get there extra early as he had a "Texas Talk" at the Opry House (the folks at the hotel think this is called "O-pri") on Pedal Steel. Lloyd used another steel players steel that was set up totally backwards from how he usually plays. He never mentioned one word of this on stage. He just played it like a maniac! I was so proud of him. I know there's a reason why he's considered one of the best steel players in the world ... but to see him in action was pretty amazing. He then jammed with guitar ace Texas Johnny Brown and the famous bajo sexto player from the Texmaniacs. I was pretty blown away. After his set, we played our final show on the dance hall stage and then boogied towards a van that had our luggage already packed and loaded in it so we could immediately get to the airport. Once inside, I hunkered down in the very back seat and pulled a Houdini and changed clothes in route to the airport. No one saw me as Lloyd was up front and I was practically kissing the floorboards. Man, one more minute in those clothes though and I was gonna wilt. They were so wet with sweat and caked with dirt I was having multiple gross out moments. 

We get to the airport and I jump in line with all my gear. Within a matter of minutes I'm being pushed and prodded by about seventy people in a group from India. They are removing the pieces of cotton tape that makes up the aisles and forming their own line. The security guard is huffing and puffing and telling them "No, no, no." But they just smile and look down and pretend like they have no idea what he's saying. I watch as the elegantly dressed gentleman in front of me hides the end of the tape behind his back. He then scoots to the side as the last of three generations of his family members slide in front of me. The guard sees this and stomps his feet. I become very big very quick, bug out my eyes and stake claim on my original spot in line again. I'm hot, dirty, tired ... and I've learned how to hold my own with the Bhutanese on a shuttle bus. But I think going most in my favor is that ... I smell. Anyway, I'll be damned if the folks from India are gonna push me to the back of the line. I put my hands on my hips and spread my legs. I bone up. I'm big ... very very big. No one is getting by me. No one. Within a few minutes I get my boarding pass, give the folks from India a little bow ... and go meet Lloyd to get through security. Due to weather our flights been delayed but we make it home. I crawl into bed at the wee hours of the morning. What day is it? What month is it? I have totally lost track of time.

Happy Trails,

Terri

During our stay on the East Coast we went through:

1. 14 gallons of water

2. 4 boxes of Kashi Bars

3. Several pounds of almonds and cashews

4. Every pair of socks and underwear (twice)

5. 8 sets of guitar strings (we'd ruin them with sweat!)

6. 1 harmonica in the key of D

7. 1 tank top (too sweaty to ever wear again)

6/28/08 SAT - Smithsonian Folklife Festival & Truman Shows

Lloyd banged on the door of my hotel room at around 7:30 a.m. I threw on a sweat stained shirt and my cleanest pair of dirty jeans and met him at the door. We then proceeded to venture to the dining hall where we could grab a quick ... and better yet FREE breakfast. We gobbled our food down and then ran back upstairs to grab our gear to make the 9:30 shuttle to the festival grounds. I loaded us up with bottled water and  "Emergen-C" (a powdered mixture that you mix with water to give you your vitamins). I shoved it all in my backpack which already weighed a ton.

We made it to the shuttle in the nick of time and within a matter of minutes we were baking in the early morning sun as we made our way towards the Dance Hall tent where we needed t ready ourselves for our early afternoon show. After that performance, we then did another gig at the "Texas Talk" stage. Both shows were fun, but we were very hot and sweaty at their conclusion. With some strategic planning from friends, we took the metro back to the hotel (to avoid another foot race with the Bhutanese) so we could grab a quick shower before that night's show in Reston, VA. 

Our friends Ralph and Peter helped get us to Reston in plenty of time for that evenings performance. The show was held in a meeting room at a community center in downtown Reston. The folks that put it on our huge music fans. They were real nice people and it was fun working with them. It was also Lloyd's birthday ... so that made it even more special. 

After the show we ventured back towards our hotel. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as Saturday was a rough day playing wise and we could now get some much needed rest before Sunday (which by all appearances was lining up to be just as physically challenging). 

Here are some photos from the day:

1. Jones Family Singers (we always had to follow them - lordy!)

2. Guy and Pipp Gillette ... who own and run Camp Street Cafe in Crockett Texas ... but are also pretty famous for their traditional cowboy meets folk meets cool approach to their music.

3. The world's longest escalator at the Metro

4. My flowers (thanks DC)

5. Lloyd's cake (thanks Ralph)

06/27/08 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Continued

We are still here in Washington, DC. It's going great and everyone we are working with is friendly and a wealth of information on folklore, musicology, and all subjects pertaining to the Smithsonian organization. 

Tonight we did soundcheck and then almost immediately before we were to begin playing the entire grounds were evacuated due to thunderstorms. We hid out in the museum (and saw the elephant Teddy Roosevelt shot) till the storms cleared. The show was almost called then the skies cleared and everything was given the go ahead to proceed as planned. So, we jumped on stage to an enthusiastic crowd of 1500 -2000 folks and played our set. It was pretty magical. After us Joe Ely played and Lloyd sat in. Joel Guzman played accordion and the trio lit the place up. 

Here's photos (sorry I did not get any of Joe but the lighting was not good when I tried).

1. Little Joe Y Familia 

2. Me & Bhutan Folks

3. "The Elephant" (With Ralph, Singin' Jim, Faith, and Lloyd)

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Photos

1. My name tag (I'm a dork, but I wanted a picture of it)

2. Lloyd and legendary fiddle player Frenchie Burke

3. Jody Nix Band (his pops wrote "Big Balls in Cowtown") 

4. The cross culture of people here blows my mind. This woman in full Indian dress was doing the jitterbug to Jody Nix's music with a casual passerby in the audience!

5. The Jones Family Band getting down with their funked up gospel. 

6/25 - today

We are at the Smithsonian Festival in Washington, DC. It's pretty amazing here. We have been pretty beat, but you can't tell when we play. It's like we get on stage and get all super charged and then get off stage and wilt. They keep you busy here. You have set times and various stages to do on your schedule. And it's intense performances but very very very fun. The caliber of folks playing from our home state are fantastic. I will get into all that at a later post. I gotta tell you about the music. But for now, I have to tell you about the people from Bhutan. They are here with a full exhibit as are the folks from NASA. Anyway, yesterday Lloyd and myself hiked across the grounds to reach the shuttle buses in time. Please note that we are each carrying a backpack that weighs about 40 pounds, guitars, a mandolin, and a small instrument called the Papoose. Needless to say, we are bogged down. We were hot, sweaty, stinky, and most of all hungry! They feed us here but you have to catch the shuttle and make it back to the hotel by 9:00 or you miss out. So, there we were within eyeshot of that shuttle and by the looks of it first in line. As soon as I breathed a sigh of relief, I heard the pitter-patter of clogs and the swish of robes and within a few seconds we were overcome by the Bhutanese. They snatched that bus right out from under us and elbowed us out of the way. They were joyous about it too as they are known for keeping a smile on their face. Hmmmm. We then missed the next shuttle as the same thing happened. We caught the third shuttle and somehow still made dinner.

It's amazing here. I'm so happy to be here. I can't wait to shop a little for music in the marketplace. They have EVERYTHING you would want to buy in regards to the type of music I love. 

I'm off to dinner with friends ... Happy Trails - Terri 

P.S. I'm a little homesick and I miss my family and mutts 

6/24/08 Gloucester County, Attkinson Park

This was held in the amphitheater type of area outdoors. We'd worked with this same sound company at a festival that Saturday, so we knew we were in good hands. When the sound's great like that on stage it makes playing a whole lot of fun. We played about 90 minutes and then got Steve Quelet (he played before we did) up to play the last few songs with us. He was great. Kind of quirky blues stylist with jazz and folk infused. He had brought his grandkids to the show so it was fun watching them all enjoy some family time together. After the show, our friend Ralph took us back to downtown Washington to our hotel where we're housed for the Smithsonian Festival. It was a long haul there and back but we had a good time. We played DJ and spun songs off our ipods for each other. 

T

I am addicted to this guy Ralph played for me who goes by "Monkey Bowl." The song was called "Hip-Hop for Bunny." Man, it cracked me up!!!  

6/22/08 Puck, Doylestown PA (Bucks County)

We played this show with Robert Hazard (he's written many great songs including the classic made famous by Cindy Lauper "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun") and Craig Bickhardt (penned hits for Judds and Martina McBride). It was a great place ... called "Puck Live." We did a song swap and swapped stories as well. I hope we get to do this again. They were a joy to work with and I'm pretty sold on the venue too. 

Terri

6/21/08 Southern Shore Music Festival

I left San Marcos at 3:30 a.m. Friday morning. Within the hour, I was checking in my bags at the Austin airport. And within four hours my feet touched ground at the BWI airport. As soon as we landed we hustled our gear to the shuttle bus and headed towards the rental car facility. We got our rent car and headed towards the small town of Vineland, New Jersey. As soon as I checked into my hotel room, I ate dinner and went to bed as we had to check into the festival early the next day. Saturday, I awoke to a simply gorgeous day here. After months and months of hotter than hot weather in Texas, it felt like a Spring day. It was perfect ... in the upper 80's with crystal clear blue skies. The festival was held in Millville, which was a short drive from the hotel. As soon as we arrived we ran into friends. One of which is Bob Rose (pictured by Sam Feinstein), the promoter for the festival. He even wears cowboy boots (with shorts mind you), in our honor. I had such a fun time at the festival. We usually play a show and have to head out right away to play somewhere else. But in this case, we played and got to hang out for the rest of the day. The music was fantastic. The Drifters blew me away. Dressed in matching red polyester suits they gave a show that was as funky and motown as it was  inspirational. Robert Hazard reminded me of one of my favorites, Joe Ely. Beautiful melodies and totally different than anyone else that day. Perhaps the hit of the festival was the Homemade Jamz Blues Band. A family band with a 9 year old female drummer. They don't play like kids. They play like hellions with homemade instruments out of car parts! They will tape NPR Monday so the word is really out on this band. David Bromberg got Lloyd up to play as did the Angel Band. The musical dynamics of both those groups entertained the audience and brought the house down. During the whole festival I got to sit and talk to friends. Many of which are photographers that I've met at other festivals across the East Coast. My soul friend though is Gene Shay. One of my favorite moments will be us toasting each other with our orange Dreamsicles and eating our ice cream while watching Bromberg. Unfortunately, we left the festival before I got the see Doctor John. Lloyd and myself were both pretty tired and felt it was important to get some rest as we have a slammed week ahead of us.

Happy Trails,

Terri

06/15/08 San Marcos River Pub, San Marcos, TX

As we set up, I could not help but recall the horrible flood we'd had in San Marcos (at that spot) a few years back. As the flood waters rose and swallowed chunks of IA, I seriously felt their pain. It's horrible to clean up after a flood. I helped a friend in the 2000 flood and let's just say her silver-wear drawers were lined with silt, river water, and mildew. And it was all but impossible to clean. Had we not been able to step in and start cleaning (thanks to the Houston girls and their generator and shop vac) the whole house would have had to be leveled. So, there I was setting up for the show thinking about all this watching the kids and families play in the river behind the stage. Several folks had their grills churning out fresh BBQ and the smell made my stomach rumble with hunger. 

But all the while, I thought about that bridge I'd crossed in downtown Cedar Rapids last September and how much I liked playing at CSPS in that town. And how, just like my hometown of San Marcos, the community centered around its river ... in the good times and bad. 

We had a good Father's Day show and Pat Manskee did a great job playing drums as he'd never played most of the songs we'd played that night before. We were lucky to get a sub for Paul on such short notice. 

P.S. I'm getting flood insurance before I leave town. The weather is just too weird and San Marcos can be like a bowl when it comes to water. And ... "I live at the bottom of a hill, where it's been known to flood. I close my eyes every time it rains and pray I never have to move my stuff."

Terri

6/14/08 Mansfield Festival, Mansfield TX

We played this as a trio instead of a band as Paul was too sick to play. He had to have emergency gall bladder surgery in fact, and it looks like he's going to be needing some R&R. We will be working in new drummers and take things from there. It was a great ten years with Paul and he will indeed be missed. Between his lung infection and this gall bladder surgery his bills are through the roof and a benefit will be planned to help him get through this. I'll be keeping you posted on it. If you'd like to send Paul well wishes feel free to send them to me at terri@terrihendrix.com and I will pass them onto Paul. 

In spite of missing Paul, we had a good gig. The folks there treated us really nice, the sound was good, and the drive there was pleasant as well. We all rode together and I played DJ in the back seat with my ipod. We listened to Bethany & Rufus "900 Miles," Keb Mo, Bela Fleck, Pointer Sisters, and a hodge-podge of others. On the way home, Lloyd drove and I froze as he had the AC too high. I was soaking wet with sweat from the gig and forgot a change of clothes. So I sat in the back seat huddled into a ball shaking the whole way home trying to play DJ again but too cold to concentrate on my mix. 

Happy Trails, Terri

6/7/08 Kerrville Folk Festival

We did this as a trio. It worked out okay but we sure missed Paul. He's a main-stay at this festival and everyone cares about him. I do not have any photos but I hope to get some soon. Highlights for me were the whole night we played. I wish we could have seen more of the entire festival. But I'm glad I got to see the artist's on that Saturday night. Trout Fishing in America was on fire! They make me happy and their songs are good for the human spirit! More later, Terri

June 6th, 08 Frisco Grooves

Well, Paul had to cancel this show. He was just too sick to make it. I was worried about him but after talking to him, I realized he'd be well taken care of at home. He did the right thing by canceling. I called the promoter and she understood but hoped we could find a sub for Paul as the event required a full band to fill the space. My music takes some unexpected detours, and having a drummer "sit in" with no rehearsal was going to be a challenge. So, Lloyd spent the majority of the trip to the Dallas area on his cell phone working the situation out. On my iphone I pulled up the record label of a keyboardist that would know the drummer that Lloyd had in mind. We lucked into getting the keyboardist at home. Next thing you know, Lloyd's on the phone with Gene Glover, who could "yes" ... for sure make the gig that night. "Whew." And it worked out okay. Gene was real nice and we were able to pull it off. We were lucky he was off. Really lucky. The show was fun and it turned into a jam-fest for the kids. Some wonderful pictures of the event are here: 

Happy Trails,

Terri

Me as a kid (on left) playing guitar in church ...