Terri Hendrix
Places In Between (Wilory)
It’s likely that San Marcos will soon become victim to the next Central Texas population boom, and if the relocated masses have any sense at all, they’ll declare Terri Hendrix their queen. The town’s got it all — natural beauty, access to major arteries, and a chance to grow in a more reasonable and intelligent manner than its big, obnoxious sister to the north (yes, Austin). Matter of fact, that description pretty well fits Hendrix herself, whose musical personability hasn’t gone unnoticed here, whose songs cut to the heart of the matter as quick as any, and whose second studio release, Places In Between, shows a natural and accomplished artistic growth. Still unafraid of wandering into the folk musics of other cultures, Hendrix goes Celtic on “Joy or Sorrow,” complete with a spoken Gaelic intro, and like it did with “Gravity” and “Lluvia de Estrellas” from her Wilory Farm debut, it works. She picks it bluegrass style on “My Own Place” and grinds the blues on “Throw My Love.” The sad (“Eagles”), the silly (“Invisible Girl”), and the care-worn (“Fair”) all have a rightful place in Hendrix’s catalog; rather than spread her talents too thin, the diversity makes her complete. If Places In Between finds its author confronting her fears and putting them into songs, as Hendrix declares in the liner notes, then she emerges triumphant, turning the mundane into the beautiful — life into art — with the grace and ease of a gifted professional.
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This article appears in May 5 • 2000.