I enjoy good fiddlin’. I think it’s cool that someone can run a bow over some strings attached to a piece of wood tucked under his chin and make the countriest of sounds. Yup, for my money, fiddlin’ is cool and fiddlin’ is country.

So when I saw Eleven Hundred Springs for the first time a few years ago, I was drawn to Jordan Hendrix. His bow seemed to glide across those strings so effortlessly, adding the perfect something extra to Matt Hillyer’s vocals and guitar. And he looked like he was having fun.

Now, a few years later, I had the opportunity to talk to Jordan about his life in the music biz.

Jordan first took the stage less than a decade ago, in a bar in Nacogdoches, Texas, as a member of his first band, High Lonesome. His brother played bass in the band. “It was a thrilling night. All my friends and family were there for support and it felt good to be on stage,” Jordan reminisced.

Making music is a normal pastime for many Texans, but why did Jordan choose to fiddle? While he cites Don Rich, Doug Kershaw, Fiddlin’ Frenchie Burke, and Bob Wills as favorite musicians, it was, quite naturally, his father, south-Texas fiddler Phillip Hendrix, who had the strongest influence on him.

“There is so much to say about my dad, I don’t even know where to start. He is a very strong person and has always supported me through whatever choices I have made in my life. I wanted to start playing the fiddle because I watched him play at a younger age. At one point, my dad had a chance to go to Nashville with some musicians he was touring with in Colorado, but he returned to college in South Texas instead, so he never really got to live out his musical dream in full. I wanted to carry the torch, to be able to play some the same places my father once did with the likes of Wynn Stewart and Al Dean and The All Stars.”

But Jordan had an obstacle to overcome when he learned to play.

“When I was 14 months old I had an accident and had surgery on my middle finger. Since then I have never really been able to bend it, so I only play with three fingers. People always think I am shooting them the bird!”

So how did a three-fingered fiddle player become a member of one of the most popular and successful country bands in Texas today?

“I was attending college at Stephen F. Austin and was near graduation. I decided that even though my degree would give me more opportunities for a ‘real job,’ I wasn’t ready to throw in the musical towel just yet. I went to the Eleven Hundred Springs website and emailed them asking if they would be looking for a fiddle player anytime soon – and I got lucky! They set up an audition forme down at Threadgill’s in Austin, and one week after graduation I was playing with the band at Floore’s Country Store.”

And how does being part of a heavily touring band like Eleven Hundred Springs work for Jordan?

“I wouldn’t be happy if I wasn’t busy. Traveling is one of the perks, and I enjoy the change of scenery. My fiancée is very understanding, because her father played drums for Ray Price and she is used the lifestyle.”

If you like staying busy, is playing in the band enough to do that? Are you a fulltime musician?

“No, but only because I choose not to be. I work during the day for a construction company as a senior estimator. They are very supportive of me and work around my schedule with Eleven Hundred Springs.”

Jordan also stays busy by continually working to improve his skills on his Barcus Berry violins (‘em are fiddles to you and me), and by broadening his musical repertoire by playing drums, guitar, and mandolin.

So now, at 28 years old, Corpus Christi-born Jordan Hendrix is already a very successful musician. What does he see in his future, say, ten years from now?

“In ten years, I would like to be touring around the world, and hopefully be a better player. And married with children to pass the tradition to.”

The last part of that should be easy. Jordan will soon marry his longtime girlfriend, Casey, Children, though, are not in the immediate future, because “we’re just enjoying time with each other” right now.

As for a future touring around the world, what is it that drives Jordan to want to play all those live shows?

“The music always keeps me going, but it’s really the fans. The more they are into it, the more I get into it.”

Fiddle on, then, you three-fingered magician, because – just so you know – we’re into it!

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