The Art of Removing Wallpaper

Terri Hendrix

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 2004)
• Original Release Date: June 8, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Wilory Records
• ASIN: B00028CJK4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,160 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

When Terri Hendrix released her last album, 2002’s The Ring, it marked the end of the first part of a long and rewarding creative journey that propelled the San Antonio-born, San Marcos, TX-based songwriter to some of the most celebrated performance venues in America, including the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Live at Mountain Stage and the Kerrville, Philadelphia, and Newport Folk Festivals. Supported by a dedicated grassroots fan base, Hendrix –who studied opera on scholarship at Hardin-Simmons University before dropping out to milk goats for guitar lessons and hone her chops on the central Texas open-mic circuit – has bypassed label offers in favor of releasing such albums as her 1998 breakthrough Wilory Farm and 2000’s Places In Between on her own Wilory Records. Her one-of-a-kind mix of folk, pop, country, and jazz-inflected roots rock has long been lauded by publications ranging from Mojo to Texas Monthly to Billboard and London’s The Guardian, but The Ring was the album that raised the bar.In doing so, The Ring quickly outsold all of her previous releases without costly trappings associated with most major distributors. In addition, Performing Songwriter declared it "thoroughly captivating" and one of the 12 best independent releases of the year. In the two years following The Ring’s release, between her relentless tour schedule and co-writing a Grammy-winning instrumental for the Dixie Chicks ("Lil’ Jack Slade"), Hendrix took some time off for a long, hard look at her life, career, and music. "It was time for a reality check –personally, with my business, and with my music," she says. "I had achieved my goals and I was restless for new beginnings." She was inspired in no small part by the Zen-like task of stripping away the layer upon layer of bad wallpaper that smothered her newly purchased, fixer-upper home in ducks and polka-dots. The raw beauty (and patches of just plain raw) she found hidden beneath mirrored the personal themes she was simultaneously exploring in her writing. "I realized that ‘wallpaper’ is everywhere," she explains, "from the news on the TV and radio to the way we all hide our true feelings from ourselves and the rest of the world on a daily basis. The more wallpaper I peeled away in my home, the more obsessed I became with stripping it away from my life, too, and writing about the truth underneath it all." And so began her brand new journey, the first chapter intriguingly titled –what else?—The Art of Removing Wallpaper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raising the bar, June 8, 2004

By A Customer

While I've never been a fan of knocking one artist or album to praise another, this album really is a cut above pretty much any other "Americana" or folk album you'll likely hear or read about this year. I pre-ordered it at one of Terri's Texas shows back in February, and it's just about all I've listened to in the week or so since I got it. Terri's been getting better and better with each album, but this one takes the cake. It's worth it for "Breakdown" alone, but "Monopoly" is a flat-out anthem against media consolidation that deserves heavy rotation on every independent-and-proud radio station in America. This is beautiful, bold, smart, fun and even sexy music - the kind most program directors these days seem to run screaming from.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It keeps getting better and better......, August 3, 2004

By	gsupp (PA) - See all my reviews

With each successive album, it becomes clearer and clearer that Terri Hendrix is someone who does her homework and studies every night, as the playing and the writing only gets better and better with each release. As is typical Terri, there are too many musical styles to categorize to one genre, and none of the styles are shrifted -- she does each one justice, from folk to bluegrass to country to americana to that reggae beat that pops up on one track. Also a treat is the more featured prominence of Lloyd Maines on the tracks, he adds a great harmony vocal, and lays down some serious steel, more so than on Terri's previous works. Lyrically, it is Terri's strongest to date, and don't be surprised if you're sitting down to ponder the state of world affairs as well as your own personal one's after listening. It's hard to pick a favorite track but highlights are Judgement Day, Enjoy the Ride (love that harmonica playing), and Monopoly (a strong statement against the corporate control of radio and media).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the BEST, June 22, 2006

By	Jeannie Ray "Seattle Chick" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've got every Terri Hendix CD, and with each one I think - Wow! This is the best ever! Playful, introspective, thoughtful, funny - with music and lyrics complimenting each other to a 'T'. This is one of my favoite CD's of all time - Can't wait for the next one!