For those that are not familiar with Terri and Lloyd, Lloyd Maines has been playing around Texas since the 1970’s and is proficient on the guitar, pedal steel, dobro, mandolin and banjo. Over the last couple of decades he has been one of the most sought after music producers on the Texas music scene. With all of the opportunities open to him, he chooses to spend a great deal of his time touring with the ultra-talented singer-songwriter, Terri Hendrix. Terri writes lyrics from the heart and delivers them in a style that blends folk, country, blues and jazz with a vocal range rare in the Americana genre. Oh, and she plays a mean harmonica, as well.

The duo began the evening getting their stage bearings with “Life’s a Song”, before doing the first of two Woody Guthrie tunes of the evening, “Pastures of Plenty”. Up third, was one of my personal favorites, “Wallet”, with that contradictory phrase, “…I’ve got a need to be wanted and a need to be free…” and featuring Lloyd stretching out a bit on some great mandolin work.

Throughout the evening the songs were separated by Terri’s stories and Lloyd’s jokes. At this point, Terri shared that when she got her first (of fourteen) disc of songs together she sent it out to three record companies and got rejection letters from all three, so she decided to self-publish. Today, she says that those three companies are out of business and she is still here. That’s a tribute to her indomitable spirit and energy.

The show continued with Guthrie’s “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” and “The Spiritual Kind” Which Terri turned into a sing-a-long accompanied by some of Lloyds dobro musical acrobatics. Terri showed off her blues voice with the title song from her first disc, “Two Dollar Shoes” and the more sentimental “Hand-Me-Down Blues” and the wishful “Einstein’s Brain”.

After Lloyd joked about Terri only keeping him around for his AARP discounts on the road, he tried to introduce the next song as “Mean People Suck”. Terri corrected him with the introduction of “I Found the Lions”, which some of you might recognize from Carolyn Wonderland’s cover of the tune on her disc, “Miss Understood”. Lloyd really stretched the strings for the solo on this version, slowing it down into a “raga”, which is the chord that dominates Middle Eastern music. Lloyd joked that in some places around the South, anything remotely Arabic makes some listeners a little uneasy, but if it’s followed by a few notes of “Dueling Banjos”, the crowd can be retrieved.

To play out the first set, Lloyd and Terri began the first lines of “Bottom of the Hill”, but after a couple of stanzas, Terri began to improvise lyrics (a talent that amazes me), turning the song into a custom birthday wish for Kenny and Barbara. They both were beaming at having been so honored.

Normally, I wouldn’t say much about an intermission, but Terri Hendrix is so warm and attentive to her fans as they peruse the merchandise; she makes everyone feel like an appreciated customer and friend.

After intermission, Terri introduced “The Dana Blues”, which featured some animated dobro licks that Terri matched note for note with her jazz styled voice. She stuck with the old time jazz vocals, showing off her range on “Sometimes”, and a low down Dixieland voice on “My Feet’s Too Big”, after which Terri pulled on every heartstring in the room with, “If I Had a Daughter”. Following a demonstration of the Oklahoma bagpipes (patent pending) to lighten the mood, Terri and Lloyd pulled off an intense rendition of “Old Joe Clark”.

They continued the evening with a tribute to quiet courage in “Walkin’ on the Moon”, followed by the natural sing-a-long “Hole in my Pocket”. The second set ended up with the fluid lyrics of “Wind Me Up” flowing into a special Texas edition of “Dead Armadillo”. Lloyd and Terri stepped away from the mikes and turned down the amps for the encore, “This is my Prayer for You”, making the song sound all that more personal to the listeners in the room.

Having the opportunity to see these two great talents in this small venue was a great experience. While both artists still exhibited their high energy and honed skills, there was a laid back feel to the evening that I hadn’t experienced at any of their other shows. Kenny Pipes ended the evening with a promise to bring them back soon. That is a promise that he will be held to, the good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.