Terri Hendrix: “Talk To A Human: Project 5.3” (2019) CD Review

Terri Hendrix is a singer and songwriter based in Texas. She has been performing and recording since the mid-1990s, and in 2016 began a special project titled Project 5 that includes four CDs and an autobiography. Two of the CDs (Love You Strong and The Slaughterhouse Sessions) were released in 2016, and two (Talk To A Human and Who Is Ann?) in 2019. Talk To A Human: Project 5.3 contains a lot of original material, written by Terri Hendrix, and also some good choices of covers. Joining her on this album are Lloyd Maines on guitar, dobro, pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, papoose (an instrument I don’t think I’d ever heard of before), percussion, bass and ukulele; Glenn Fukunaga on bass; Pat Manske on drums; John Silva on drums; Riley Osbourn on keys; Jeanne Ply on fiddle; John Mills on tenor saxophone; Make Gonzales on trombone and trumpet; and Drew Womack on harmony vocals.

The album opens with its title track, “Talk To A Human,” and it took only thirty seconds before I fell madly in love with this song. The lyrics are delivered as a rap, and are ones we can all relate to in these days of increasing automation and so on. One of the reasons I love my car insurance company is that when I call, an actual person answers the phone. Remember that? Remember people? “It’s about the money, honey, ain’t about you/Unplug the yellow, try the blue/All right, I’m back online/Looking for somebody or a sign of life/Press star 1-9/Please hold to reach mankind/Please hold to reach mankind.” Plus, it has a good groove. This song is fantastic. Terri Hendrix then changes gears with “Mi Madre,” a song with a bright Latin rhythm and featuring a horn section. There is a certain humor to the song as well. Terri seems to be having a great time here, and so I am while listening, though the song touches on some serious subjects, including poor body image and a volatile mother-daughter relationship. This track is a delight. Then in “Choice,” Terri sings “I’m too young to retire/Too old to get hired/I found my crazy, lost my mind/In the valley of the daily grind” and “My head plays tricks on me sometimes.” Oh yes, here is a song that so clearly conveys the sense of aging that we are all experiencing. These lines I can’t help but relate to: “Now the younger me is running free/And the older me is here/Wondering if the best of me/Got swallowed by the years/If it did, don’t tell me.” Damn, Terri Hendrix can certainly write some good lyrics. And she also delivers some good work on harmonica here.

Woody Guthrie wrote a lot of songs, many of which he never had a chance to record. So over the years different artists have composed music for his lyrics and released the songs, interesting kinds of collaborations between the living and the dead. Billy Bragg and Wilco put out two albums of this music (Mermaid Avenue and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II), the first one of which included “Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key,” a song also covered by Ellis Paul. Here Terri Hendrix delivers a sweet rendition, with a nice intro added. This is a wonderful song, and Terri does a great job with it. She follows that with a totally enjoyable and adorable rendition of “Don’t Meddle With My Mood,” a song written and recorded by Cindy Walker. This track features a wonderful vocal performance, some jazzy guitar work, and more nice work on harmonica. “Please go away and let me brood/And don’t you meddle in my mood.” Terri then gets good and bluesy with a lively rendition of “You Keep Doggin’ Me,” here titled “Dogging Me.” This version features some lyrics written by Terri Hendrix, as well as more great work on harmonica, that instrument really driving the track at moments.

Terri Hendrix then returns to original material with “Worthy,” a sweeter-sounding folk song that she co-wrote with Lloyd Maines. Christal Moore, Tay Hoyle, Tracy Miller, Jeanne Ply, Vicki Genfan and Patty Sughrue provide backing vocals on this one. “Make me worthy of the love of my friends/Because when I’m with them, I’m all right.” Amen to that. That’s followed by “WASP,” which tells the story of women who tested aircraft during World War II. Tracy Miller provides harmony vocals on this one. Terri then delivers a cover of “The Dark,” written by Guy Clark and Buddy Mondlock, and originally used as the title track to a Guy Clark album. The lyrics, as on the original recording, are delivered almost as spoken word.  “One way or another, we’re all in the dark.” That’s followed by a pretty rendition of “The Water Is Wide,” a traditional song. Terri Hendrix then concludes the album with another pretty song, “I Hear Your Song,” one that reminds us we are not alone. We can all use songs like this right now.

CD Track List

1. Talk To A Human
2. Mi Madre
3. Choice
4. Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key
5. Don’t Meddle In My Mood
6. Dogging Me
7. Worthy
8. WASP
9. The Dark
10. The Water Is Wide
11. I Hear Your Song

Talk To A Human: Project 5.3 was released on September 6, 2019.