Terri Hendrix
The Art of Removing Wallpaper
Wilory

by Dan Aquilante

**** 4 Stars

You might think country singer Terri Hendrix's new album is about stripping away the masks we hide behind, but the real theme here is even more basic: It's about being truthful with yourself. With her musical partner, Lloyd Maines (father of Dixie Chick Natalie Maines), Hendrix presents her songs in stripped-down country arrangements that her appealing voice in front of the music. She opens with the powerful "Breakdown," a song that wrestles with personal angst and emptiness. That might sound gloomy, but the melody lends an optimistic air. Hendrix really makes her mark on a cover of rapper L.L. Cool J's "I Need Love," bringing the gap between The Bronx and Nashville.