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When singing at New York-situated open mics early last decade, Tara Hendricks began to feel as if she were “a star in the making.” The East Passyunk Crossing dweller will continue seeking her celestial summit Sunday as the Alternative Soul Revue headliner at Warmdaddy’s, 1400 S. Columbus Blvd.
“I’m really focusing on working on myself as an artist, so the show will be a fantastic chance to do that and will compel me to go after more success in this field,” Hendricks said. “I’m going to be with great people, too, so that’s always good for drawing inspiration and confidence.”
The chanteuse will be making her first South Philly-based performance since a November rebranding that has yielded a new look, material and name, the final element representing a switch from her “taragirl” incarnation. The alteration includes the Jan. 15 release of her fetching single “Can’t Let Go,” the video for which includes East Passyunk Crossing footage, and reflects a realization of the need for more autonomy and tenacity.
“I’ve learned to stick to my own voice and vision,” Hendricks said of lessons acquired since the 2010 release of “The City: Soul Suite,” the successor to her ’06 debut “The 26th Power.” “The name change was inevitable, and the sound is perhaps a bit more polished and ambitious.”
No stranger to Warmdaddy’s, the singer will play a 45-minute set at the Pennsport location, with the evening serving as a pre-birthday celebration. That component aside, Hendricks hopes her offerings will activate hearts and bodies simultaneously and intends to have the occasion further occupy her desires for augmented authenticity.
“The music industry can be very intimidating, and it can be easy to forget what you’re in it for, which to me is to make people curious about your talent and then make them feel how much you care about your artistry and their entertainment,” she said. “I’ve always, thank God, been able to sing, so going forward, I’m looking to work with so many more people and improve my writing.”
The reverent and resolute artist began articulating her path as a New Jersey-bred girl. Gradually becoming engrossed, she used her pop and rhythm and blues interests at first to emulate such influences as Mary J. Blige, En Vogue, Lauryn Hill and Whitney Houston and then to develop a distinct identity.
“I became adamant about working on my craft,” Hendricks said, noting that high school, during which she initially took voice lessons, proved her turning point. “When you’re so enthused about something, you want to perfect your involvement in it, right? It was no different for me with music.”
Deeming herself “a very city person,” the intuitive individual believed the Big Apple would boost her chances for earning merit and matriculated at New York University as a voice major. Though initially enamored with musical theater, she parted with that penchant after two years to focus on broadcast journalism.
“We just weren’t good fits for each other,” she said of her relationship with her premier course of study. “I’d definitely say, though, that it made me a better singer and gave me a sort of heightened awareness of my responsibility to myself.”
With the academic shift, which Hendricks noted she executed so she could “get a real job” if the music world kept her out of its orbit, she gained enough knowledge to score employment with the TV channel Oxygen. Long hours rid her of the belief that she could cap her days with gigs but did not deter her overall drive. She eventually, however, tired of tabbing New York as her eventual windfall-bearing location but not before working for the group TLC and making the aforementioned open mic appearances.
“I started to feel that what I have in me is actually good, unique and special,” Hendricks said. “I knew people, for sure, but I had no idea how to reach the next step.”
With “literally nothing left to lose” and no local acquaintances, she flocked to Philadelphia in ’03 and hit its open mic circuit with similar ambition. Growing to love defying narrow-minded expectations of her essence through area opportunities, she situated herself splendidly within the city’s neo-soul revolution that has given rise to artists such as Floetry, Musiq Soulchild and Jill Scott, with whom she has performed.
“I think I was always ready to record,” Hendricks said of hankering to join those music makers as a marketable presence. “There was just the issue of finding the right collaborator and dealing with the enormity of such a project.”
With “The 26th Power,” the “soul girl” issued a self-affirming effort that she contends validated her path. That journey involved braving barricades the next four years, though, and Hendricks, whose accolades include placement on Billboard/Discmakers’ Top 15 Artists: North East in the Independent World Series and whose other stage sharers number such notables as Chaka Khan, Chrisette Michele and Amy Winehouse, has come to possess a far greater sense of security, which involves more than ditching her previous look’s reliance on pigtails and knee highs.
“I don’t like anything contrived, so I’m all about being in tune, so to speak, with my image and material,” the songbird, whose changes also include having become an April bride to husband Freddy, said. “There have been ups and downs, but I’m not focusing on the negative. I am who I am because I believe in myself.”
Looking to complete a third project, which she feels could be an extended play, tour and find an independent label, Hendricks, also the helmer of an Instagram vocal series dubbed #TheDailyVox, has certainly cemented her status as a vigilant vocalist.
“Nobody should misuse an opportunity to grow at whatever they are,” she said. “I want to use each of mine to succeed.” ■
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For tickets, visit urbantix.com, or call 855-872-2684.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124. Comment at southphillyreview.com/news/lifestyles.
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