2005 President of The Fort Worth Songwriters Association
There is almost a Jekyll/Hyde aspect to John Terry – on one hand is an engineer who designs highways with careful, calculated precision (he was design manager for the Fort Worth “Mixmaster”), while on the other is a songwriter who weaves tales of love, broken hearts, and growing up in Texas. But the truth is, the two sides are quite interdependent. As he puts it, “I believe that my creative side makes me a better engineer, while the ‘engineer’ side of me helps direct my creativity into crafting carefully structured, lyrically precise songs.”
A native Texan, John grew up in Waco, literally “deep in the Heart of Texas”. Although a “city kid”, his parents both came from farming backgrounds, giving him a chance to see life from both perspectives. It was a musical family as well, as John recalls, “My brother, Paul, and I would sit for hours, sometimes, singing every song we could think of, a cappella, because neither of us played an instrument at the time. Paul had a natural ear for harmony, and I could always pick up the words to the songs. We sang country, folk, rock…a little of everything.”
John began to write lyrics during his college years (he still did not play an instrument), then expanded to writing both lyrics and music after learning to play the guitar. His influences include “almost everyone I’ve ever listened to – The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, John Denver, Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Jerry Jeff Walker, not to mention quite a few liturgical (church music) writers… a pretty broad spectrum”. This wide assortment of musical influences gives John’s music its unique flavor. It’s country, but it’s also folk, pop, a little bit of rock, and maybe other things as well.
John still considers himself primarily a lyricist. In July 2002, his lyrics for the song, “Neumann’s Farm” won an American Songwriter Magazine Lyrics Contest, earning him a Martin/Sigma guitar and a chance to compete for the annual award.
John is currently President in the Fort Worth Songwriters’ Association, where he publishes a monthly newsletter. He has also served as Chairperson for the Association’s annual Christmas Song Contest, has appeared in several showcase events, and has been a
Featured Writer” at the Association’s Monday Night Open Mic.In addition to serving as music ministers at St. Ann Catholic Church in Burleson, Texas, John and his wife, Linda, have been singing “classic country” duets since the early 1990’s, appearing at church functions, and at Opry shows in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Twice they were semi-finalists in the Burleson Jamboree’s annual Vocal Talent Contest, and they have been nominated three times as “Duo/Group of the Year” by the Cross Timbers Country Opry Association of Stephenville.
www.myspace.com/johnaterrysongwriter
www.fwsa.com/johnt/
