T E R R Y--A L T H O U S E Birthplace: In the shadow of the Great Serpent Mound - Southeast Ohio Instrument: Vocalist Background: Began singing shortly after exiting the womb. Started getting paid for it by age 18. Styles: Rock, R&B, blues, jazz, ballads from any era, and several less easy to classify styles.

Terry: At the age of 18 I figured, I like to sing so why not make some money at the same time. I had a friend that was doing some solo work in the Dayton, Ohio area and he asked me to join him. I thought, "Yeah, I can do this." After a short stint at that I decided a full band would be exponentially more thrilling. It was.

Terry: Straight up Rock and Roll. I mean, it was 1970 by then, and I found some guys that were really pretty talented instrumentally but were in need of a front person. I have always loved performing in front of an audience and the energy that came slamming back at me between the audience and the band was just too much to resist. I was hooked. We played a lot of college bars. For the next several years I played with a couple of permutations of the original core band until we couldn't figure out where we wanted to go next. I then joined a similar band doing a lot of male-based covers. At that time there really wasn't a lot of females out there doing kick-ass rock, so I had to adapt what was there.

Terry: In terms of having my input on choice of music or venues, it was an uphill battle at times. I loved the guys I worked with, but some of them didn't seem to take me seriously. Of course, it could have been because I was a vocalist as much as my gender. I have seen male vocalist have the same problem. I have always felt a little guilty for not playing an instrument.

Terry: I haven't paid the dues of endless hours of practice learning to play. I just open up my mouth and it's there. Seems sort of like cheating. On the other hand, the emotional connection I have to music feels very valid. It is not at all unusual for me to be so physically overwhelmed by a perfect note or a pure chord that I am utterly breathless. When I feel this intensity, I know my ability to interpret music vocally has its place.

Terry: While my daughters were little, I did a duo with my first husband that was a lot of fun. After we separated, I fell in with a blues band and fell in love with blues. That gritty urgency and raw power was really seductive. I had an extremely talented guitarist, Wingo Willie Morrison, that I connected with musically and we did some nice work. Unfortunately, we never could round out the remainder of the band with any stability. We either found very talented musicians that were as unreliable as they were talented or the other extreme. We finally gave it up. Last I heard, Willie hasn't played since then, except to his dog. That's a heartbreaker.

Terry: Yes, I went back to rock. I played several years with a great bunch of guys, in a band by the name of "Fair Warning". By them I was living just south of Chicago and we were a pretty hot ticket in the far south suburbs. Then I started having trouble with my voice. I went to three specialists and they all said the same thing. I had to quit competing with electric guitars or I wouldn't be able to sing a lullaby. I joined a more mainstream pop band, "Vital Signs", and my throat settled down. After a couple of years with them, I got an opportunity to audition with a more jazz oriented band headed by Palmer Tolly, a talented pianist and a great lady. For over a decade (well over!) I played with Palmer and a succession of evolutions of the bands, "Eclipse" and "Synergi". I developed a comfort with jazz and some quasi-New Age music as well as some old standards and show tunes.

Terry: I may have to pull out a string of superlatives here. Meeting Paul, my husband and guitar player, was the best thing ever. He and I have such an amazing relationship. His talent as a guitarist, a writer, a producer, an arranger, my god, he does it all! He talks the language I understand. Because of the the technology Paul has brought to the mix, we can do any and every kind of music we want. Talk about having your cake - it's a triple layer supreme and it's tasting mighty fine!

Terry: My pleasure. Thank you for your interest.