08/11/2024
Thanks to all the new followers! Here’s a write up by Lee Zimmerman with American Songwriter to catch ya up on our journey:
Coke Hendry is a singer/songwriter who takes his cues from the place he calls home, the plains of West Texas where he tends to his family’s ranch while drawing inspiration from the land and the cowboy legacy of those hallowed environs.
On his debut album, Stress And Medicine, Hendry draws from the honest emotion imbued in those heartland environs, sharing a set of songs that reflect the influences of others who are identified with a Texas heritage — Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Doug Sahm, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Billy Joe Shaver in particular. Hendry’s no stranger to making music — his first release, an EP titled Bound for Glory appeared nearly a decade ago, followed by a one-off single — but Stress And Medicine is clearly his most emphatic effort yet, one that shows him to be an artist with both the grit and gravitas to stir the soul and create an instant impression.
Recorded at Yellow Dog Studios in Wimberly Texas, and overseen by producer and Grammy Award winner Adam Odor, the ten original songs were written or co-written by Hendry himself. The album features an exemplary backing band consenting of prime Texas talent — Mike Harmeier (Mike and the Moonpies) supplying backing vocals, Geoff Queen featured on pedal steel, Nate C**n playing drums and percussion, Michael Tarabay on bass, Dave Percefull playing organ, and Scott Davis contributing electric guitar and Wurlitzer piano.
Flush with those rich expansive arrangements, a decided down-home sensibility, and a rootsy twang, it shares Hendry’s personal perspectives on life, love and loss. Indeed, those thoughts are gleaned from actual experience. Over the course of his career, he’s encountered the highs and lows that are common to many people in an age of trauma and turmoil. “Those experiences have allowed me to grow both personally and professionally,” he notes. “They’ve affected me on many levels. Nevertheless, I really feel like I found my footing thanks to those who were involved in the making of this album. Hopefully that’s evident in the music. I also have to thank my wife and kids for giving me the foundation I needed to make it all work.”
That’s apparent from the start courtesy of the first single, the driving and decisive album opener “Pocket Full of Dreams,” in particular. With its rambling rhythm and razor-sharp guitar riffs, it shares a theme that can easily resonate with anyone who dares to open their heart and soul to another individual. “It’s about smothering the ego and letting love in,” Hendry says. “It doesn’t matter whether that’s a healthy love for one’s own self or the love that comes from those who put up with us when we aren’t exactly so easy to love.”
He describes “All for a Saturday Night,” the album’s riveting second single, as “A rock ’n’ roll song for rock ’n’ roll people…those that truly live, and some that have died — all for a Saturday night of carousing and carrying on.” Not surprisingly, it boasts a certain Stones-like revelry that stays true to its title, conveying the feeling of promise and possibility that comes from some party persuasion.
The third single planned for release from the album is the bluesy “Buried Alive.” Here again, its darker demeanor offers a message that bears special significance in today’s disruptive and divisive world. “Sometimes people that don’t belong together seem to end up in a relationship with one another,” Hendry muses. “Goals, personalities and other things start to clash. Things start simmering, and before you know it, you feel kinda buried alive. On the other hand however, that’s why we tend to sing the blues!”
Although the songs are obviously impactful, they did take time to gestate. “This album is a collection of songs I wrote over several years,” Hendry explains. “Some came to me quickly, while others did not. I never like to rush a song or a lyric. Honest lyrics seem to reveal themselves in their own time.”
Indeed, honesty is an incisive element in Hendry’s backstory. Born and raised in San Angelo Texas, he’s a fifth generation rancher from Coke County Texas, the place that gave him his name. The ranch where he grew up was situated in an isolated area, but having time on his hands, he started making up his own melodies at a youthful age. When he turned 18, he moved to Alpine Texas to go to college, but, as he readily admits now, schooling didn’t quite work out. Nevertheless, he met the man who would become a lifelong friend, Zach Steele, and it was after witnessing Steele and his band perform, he was inspired to pick up a guitar and make music on his own.
Moving to South Dakota to work on a ranch, he took his guitar and found plenty of time to practice, learn chords and prep his songwriting skills. After a year, he relocated once again, this time to Austin where he immersed himself in a rock and roll lifestyle, with all its excess and enticement. He eventually made a move to Arkansas where he formed what he describes as a “hippy jam band.”
Nevertheless, Austin lured him back, allowing him to reconnect with his Texas roots. He played in several bands, among them, a folk-style band called the Front Porch Gypsies. Ever the gypsy himself, he relocated to Nashville for five years, forming an outfit he dubbed Coke Hendry and Medicine Hat, which allowed him to frequently gig in and around the area. He also began raising a family, which brought him full circle back to San Angelo where he lives today.
Meanwhile, his reputation continues to flourish courtesy of touring that brings him to Nashville, throughout his native Texas as well as to Arkansas and Kentucky.
“The songwriting process is the reason I make this music,” Hendry says in retrospect. “It’s a love/hate relationship, but a healing one on a personal level. Taking an idea from my brain and letting some fine studio cats work their magic brings me so much joy once it’s done. When creativity is flowing amongst my peers, I am a happy man. I hope this music takes me around the world and beyond.”
📸: Adam Baker Photography
