March 3, 2011
By Jeff Walker
San Marcos — Musician Terri Hendrix just popped in to the Price Seniors Center with a friend last fall.
She was greeted by center proprietors Ron and Marie Jager, given the full tour of the place and fell in love with the building. She was even more amazed when she saw the video the couple did of the center’s renovation nearly a decade ago, and heard stories about Ron and Marie’s daily tasks keeping the place afloat.
And a rather unlikely friendship between the three has blossomed since.
“I was amazed that two people could see something for what it could be and see it through,” Hendrix said. “I said I would have to help.”
Hendrix, who completed her first book in December, will perform a night of acoustic music alongside Lloyd Maines at 7 p.m. March 19 at the Price Seniors Center. Held inside the historic 1910 room, the show will include a meet-and-greet, desserts and a book signing during intermission.
Tickets are $20 for one or $30 for two, and proceeds will go toward the ongoing projects of the Price Seniors Center. The latest is a nearly completed elevator that will provide easy access for patrons to activity rooms upstairs.
Hendrix’s book, “Cry til You Laugh: The Part that Ain’t Art,” is a companion piece to her latest album and a collection of essays written by the singer over several decades. There are stories on her ongoing bouts with epilepsy, as well as advice on how to independently release music: Something the San Marcos artist has done to near perfection in her career.
“People these days think you can grow a career like a Chia pet, that it’s instant,” Hendrix said. “They forget that it’s about relationships and hard work. At some point, you’re going to have to work hard. And that’s what this book addresses: How to work hard, sustain yourself making music and how to not get ripped off.”
Hendrix, a San Antonio native, arrived in San Marcos nearly 20 years ago when she transferred to then Southwest Texas State from Hardin Simmons. She was thinking about majoring in music, but after immersing herself in the local music scene, decided to make a go of it.
Hendrix was soon hauling her own PA all over the state of Texas playing wherever she could.
In 1990, Grant Mazak, owner of then-Mazak Music in San Marcos, introduced Hendrix to her mentor, musician Marion WIlliamson at Grin’s restaurant. Marion had a couple of goats she needed help with in Martindale, and in exchange she began helping Hendrix build her guitar chops. Hendrix also, with the help of fellow songwriter Todd Snider, found Kent Finlay’s Wednesday night songwriter night at Cheatham Street Warehouse.
Hendrix has always remained independent, running her own Wilory Records label. Since then she’s been going to great lengths to do things her way.
The Price Center and the activities offered there have been a work in progress for the Jagers since they first started work in April of 1999. It has been a venue for everything from weddings to quilting clubs to theatre to even court sessions. It may be run primarily by seniors, Marie says, but it’s for the entire community.
Several sections of the center — the original sanctuary built in 1893, the second built in 1910 and a lobby and former church offices — have been transformed, promoting activities for people “ages nine to 89.”
Hendrix says that this is the fist time she’s played a show for two people who work harder than anyone she’s ever met: Including herself.
“When I leave they’ll probably have like 20 chores that need to be done,” she said recently inside the Price Seniors Center. “They both will e-mail me at 1:30 a.m. and be up at 8. They have musician hours, but they don’t sleep in.”
