From ICON Monthly, May 2011
Review by Mark Keresman
Cry Till You Laugh
4 Stars
Wilory
Cracker (band) has a song featuring the line: “What the world needs now is anoth- er folk singer/like I need a hole in my head.” I must reluctantly agree, but that’s because the lads in Cracker hadn’t yet heard Texas singer/songster Terri Hendrix (no relation to Jimi). Unlike many young ladies with an acoustic guitar, Hendrix does not mine the usual vein of young adult angst. Stylistically, imagine if Lucinda Williams had a precocious little sister, or if Bonnie Raitt had graduated college (in TX, of course) eight years ago, and you have the nub of my gist. Hendrix kicks off the disc with the solo vocal and harmonica setting of two Dorothy Parker poems — the gal’s got spunk and smarts, country blues at the Algonquin Round Table. While most of the album continues in her L. Williams-esque amalgamation of folk, country, blues, and rock of her previous albums, Cry Till You Laugh introduces a new wrinkle. On a couple of tracks Hendrix embraces New Orleans-style jazz, singing with Crescent City joie de vive and even using her voice wordlessly in tandem with the instruments. Not that Squirrel Nut Zippers or Madeleine Peyroux will lose any sleep, but by sheer chutzpah and animated charm Hendrix pulls it off. On the winners-never-quit “Einstein’s Brain,” she covertly/slyly refers to her 20-year battle with epilepsy. Hendrix has released over a dozen albums on her own label, and she’s way better than a hole in nearly anyone’s head. Listen to her.
