COMPOSER-SONGWRITER
Silent Tree Music
BIOGRAPHY
ANCIENT HISTORY.
1 of 2
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.
MIDI : The Eagle Cries
copyright © 1997 MICK TERRY
[ Right click to access controls : ]
EARLY BIRTH
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.
MUSIC & ACADEMIA NUT
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
and 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.
CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN'
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, then 84 in '05, 102 in '06 & 110 in '07.
Now over 50 lyrics copyrighted in the first 3 months of 2008.
>>
CONTINUE to BIOGRAPHY (Part 2)
To SITE MAP
To the TOP
Get BACK
[ Guitar, Piano, Microphone - Music Graphics Galore ]
Copyright © 1999-2008 MICK TERRY Silent Tree Music All rights reserved
HOME SUITE HOME
Los Angeles, California, USA ( 34n03, 118w15 )