Mick Terry

Official site: http://mickterry.com


Born in a tin-roofed one-room shack, life
did not start easy for the son of an itinerant
share-cropper in Tuscahammie, Mississippi.
He learned mouth-harp sitting on the knee
of his grandfather, Blind Lightnin' Morganstern.

By the age of four,
he was wailing delta blues on the slide guitar.
At seven, he was thumping the ivories
for the local gospel choir.
When he turned twelve, . . .

oops, sorry, . . .
wrong bio.

Composer-songwriter lyricist music arranger
MICK TERRY was also born at a very early age
(with the same birth date as Jimi Hendrix, Bruce
Lee, Eddie Rabbitt, James Agee, Gail Sheehy,
Jaleel White, Robin Givens, Caroline Kennedy,
Buffalo Bob Smith, Brooke Langton & Bill Nye -
The Science Guy). But there the similarities end.
Born in an urban hospital, life started with a
slap for the second son (not the seventh)
of an artist, W. Robert Terry, in Baltimore,
Maryland.

Not quite the standard blues cliché,
the dreaded 2nd grade class piano lessons
were where the musical training of MICK TERRY
began. During high school,
he started singing harmonies & playing guitar
& keyboards in folk, pop & rock groups,
featuring his original songs.

After 2 years, he left college, working with
famed producer/engineers George Massenburg &
Louis Mills at Recordings, Inc. in Baltimore.

Later transferring to Towson University,
he studied music theory & composition with John
Duro & renowned Stan Kenton arranger Hank Levy.
Upon graduation, MICK performed in clubs &
lounges in a duo full-time for three years,
paying his dues ...
to Musicians' Local #40-543.

Besides playing music live in a number of rock &
pop bands, most of his other ventures have also
been in the field of music: record producer &
promoter, session musician & music arranger,
radio show director & producer, composer for
film, video & multi-media.

Between 1979 and 1997, he had developed
his own company, Mike-on-the-Mike D.J.'s,
into one of the most respected mobile disc
jockey services around the Baltimore area,
spawning numerous imitators.

His principal direction has always been toward
the writing of music. In 1991, a stream of film,
video & other scoring projects began for him.
In 1997, MICK moved to the Los Angeles area
to be where the film & music industries collide.

For the previous 7 years, the emphasis
had been primarily on instrumental aspects.
But after the move westward, a tremendous,
inexplicable surge in the writing of lyrics
as well brought about a re-focusing on song-
writing, resulting in over 250 new copyrighted
songs in his first four years in CA.

Then 9/11/2001 hit hard:
3 immediate songs about the tragedy.
Then nothing ... nothing for an entire year.
Everything seemed trivialized by the events of
that day.
It was not until 2004 that Mick began to copyright again: 76 songs,
then 84 in 2005, 102 in 2006 & 110 in 2007.
Now over 50 lyrics copyrighted in the first 3
months of 2008.

MICK TERRY's diverse musical influences range
from Bach & Tchaikovsky to Dvorák & Grieg,
from The Mamas & Papas, The Lovin' Spoonful
& The Bee Gees
through Buffalo Springfield & Traffic
to The Band, Pink Floyd & Steely Dan,
from Brian Wilson, Billy Joel & Don Henley
to Jimmie Haskell, Dave Grusin & Bob James,
& (on the more serious side) Spinal Tap.

The music of MICK TERRY is highly lyrical,
with catchy hooks & gripping melodies,
simple in form, yet contrapuntally intricate,
rhythmically moving & harmonically engaging.

With the general direction toward pop-rock,
his melodies & arrangements span a spectrum of emotions & genres, with an underlying sense of
beauty, dignity & caring, occasionally even
allowing his humor to slip through.
Sometimes beautiful, sometimes rough:
rich feelings are brought to the heart,
colorful pictures to the mind.

His lyrics lean toward the quasi-intelligent
side, in a visually descriptive & emotional
style. Sprinkled with ample flavorings of wit,
irony & a healthy dosage of story-telling,
they at times end with a Rod Serling-flavored
twist.
Often, his lyrics deal with serious topics
& themes of spiritual & social concern.

MICK is currently working with Brutal2ThEar .

Not only have his scores, arrangements, melodies
& lyrics won awards, but so has his website,
MickTerry.com.
Earning over 40 Web awards, it is top-ranked
(often in the Top 3 ) by most major Search Engines.