Terry Ray Thomas
I was born in Lee County, Kentucky near the end of 1955.
Growing up on a farm in rural Kentucky I was introduced to
Bluegrass and Gospel music at an early age, and received my
first guitar for Christmas when I was five years old. It was the
low end model from the Aldens catalog. No one in my family
played guitar, so every so often we would travel to my uncle
Robert Byrd's for a visit over in Clay County. We had to drive
through a couple of creeks but, my uncle would tune the guitar
and play a few songs for us all.
We also had a piano at home because I had three sisters, and
until I started actually playing guitar I was "forced" to take
piano lessons (later on our younger brother was born). At first
from the preachers wife (Gayle and Nancy Wetzel) in a little
church there in Kentucky, and after we moved, from various
older ladies. I never was a very good student.
When the family moved to Southeastern Indiana in the mid
1960’s my musical roots were well established in Bluegrass,
Gospel, and Country, which were alive and well in Indiana, but
as I grew older Rock 'n Roll was were it was at. Over the next
several years my world opened up to a variety of influences.
The family settled in the small town of Batesville, Indiana
where my music career began to blossom. I played in a couple
of local rock 'n roll bands and I remember playing one gig,
which we were not paid for. Not because we were stiffed, but we
were just happy to have the gig. It wasn't until I turned sixteen
before Country and Bluegrass music became a part of my life
again.
When I got my first car I started working for my uncle Ken
Caudill in Newpoint, Indiana. He owned an auto body repair
shop and my parents thought it would be a good idea if I knew
how to maintain my vehicle myself. I agreed with them and my
Uncle was kind enough to help me out. So, I started working for
my Uncle on the weekends for free and when school let out for
the summer Ken hired me on full time paying me $40 per week.
I was a long haired hippie and he was a crazy redneck from back
in Kentucky so we took turns choosing the radio station.
George Jones, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash,
Charlie Pride, Loretta Lynn, and many others were back in my
life every other day. Ken was also a musician and loved Merle
Haggard (who didn't/doesn't). It wasn't long before a band was
formed "The Hoosier Five". Ken played drums and sang Merle
Haggard songs, I played lead guitar and sang some Del Reeves,
and we had a lead singer and guitar player, Bud Demaree, that
sounded just like Freddie Hart. Bud's wife Mary played bass,
and a fellow by the name of Dennis Collins completed the five.
Ken had the state of Indiana with a 5 on it painted on the bass
drum head. That was cool. It was during this time that I started
writing my first country songs although I never played them
live.
In 1974 I/my parents decided my life was going nowhere so I
enlisted in the US Navy and began to travel the world. Looking
back it was a good decision and led me to Northwest
Washington State. I always had a guitar with me and would jam
with just about anyone, and I continued to do a few things on
my own. However, it wasn't until the mid 1980's before I was in
another band.
I had settled in the upper Skagit Valley in Northwest
Washington and there I met Jim Fichter. We started doing some
picking together and played numerous taverns etc. around the
Pacific Northwest. We both loved Bluegrass music so Jim
started playing the mandolin, we met Don Hitt who is a fantastic
banjo player and John Rantschler on bass rounded out the new
formed band "Redline". I continued writing songs, but never
performing them live, and the band continued playing around
the Northwest. When my two son's (Derrel and Benjamin) were
born I chose to change my priorities.
I started my own business restoring classic automobiles (thanks
Ken, you were a good teacher) and a couple of years later
decided that although the upper Skagit Valley was beautiful, it
was rather isolated from the real world and my son's needed to
know more about what was out there. My skill set was limited at
the time and for some unknown reason I thought that I needed
a college education. I started at Skagit Valley Community
College in Mount Vernon, WA. Close to my last quarter at SVCC
I met my wife, Jeanne Deardorff, in a calculus class. She needed
that one class to complete her Bachelor's degree at Western
Washington University. A short time later I received my AA
degree and transferred to WWU myself. I decided that I wanted
to study hydrology but it wasn't a degree option there at the
time. I began looking for other schools and found the New
Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New
Mexico, which has one of the best hydrology programs in the
nation. It was perfect; a small town, different climate, a change
for everyone. So I packed up the whole family and we moved to
New Mexico.
For almost five years I hadn't even taken my guitar out of the
case. When I finally did I found that the climate change had
caused the neck on my old flattop to warp and twist. So I strung
it up with the heavy strings on the other side hoping that would
help straighten it out and I put it back away. About a year later,
I took it to the shop and had it repaired. During this hiatus I
completed my BS degree in Environmental Science/Hydrology
and began to study for my masters degree in Geochemistry. It
turned out that I was pretty tired of school so I dropped out of
the program after the second semester and started working in
the chemistry lab for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology
(located on campus). Luckily, there are some really great
people in the Earth and Environmental Science department at
New Mexico Tech and they allowed me to complete my MS
degree in Geochemistry. During this time my son's were older
and involved in teenage boys with a drivers license things, so I
started getting back into music.
Writing songs had always been enjoyable for me and I
continued to write. I was still interested in bluegrass as well and
this led me to Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Southwest
Pickers Association where I met singer/songwriter Steve
Morgan and later banjo player extraordinaire Jeff Scroggins. I
played guitar with Steve and mandolin in his band"Coyote
Crossing" for awhile and for the first time played live one of the
songs that I had written. However, I wasn't happy with my life
at the time and was searching for something but I wasn't sure
what it was.
My son's had both recently graduated high school and I was no
longer tied to any particular location (I didn't want to move
until they had finished school). One of the student workers in
the chemistry lab had a great internship with Intel Corporation
in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and suggested that I send them an
application. I did and it turned out that they needed someone in
Santa Clara, California and I was offered the position. This
opportunity brought my wife and me to the Bay Area. My life
was exciting and I was writing new songs all the time. It was
then that I decided to go into a studio and start recording some
of my own material. I found a small studio in San Jose,
California run by a man named Gradie O'Neal with his wife
Jeannine, and after my first session Gradie witnessed to my wife
and I about the many blessings in his life and how God had
brought him through so many seemingly impossible hardships;
I just felt that I was at the right place. Gradie and Jeannine liked
my material and after a couple more small sessions I convinced
Jeannine to produce my first CD. We laid down the working
tracks and discussed the sound and feel I was going for. She said
that she knew the perfect musicians to bring in on the project -
and I totally agree with her. I am really fortunate to have some
GREAT musicians on this CD.
That brings us to now. I have more songs to record and if I
receive enough support for this CD I hope to do several others.
I believe that I have a gift for writing songs and I know that it is
a gift that can be taken from me at any time. For me, this
opportunity feels like I have come full circle in my life back to
when I was five years old and receiving my first guitar. My
music brings joy to my life and I hope that you can find
something in it for yourself. I am grateful to have the
opportunity to play for you. Thank you and may God bless.
Growing up on a farm in rural Kentucky I was introduced to
Bluegrass and Gospel music at an early age, and received my
first guitar for Christmas when I was five years old. It was the
low end model from the Aldens catalog. No one in my family
played guitar, so every so often we would travel to my uncle
Robert Byrd's for a visit over in Clay County. We had to drive
through a couple of creeks but, my uncle would tune the guitar
and play a few songs for us all.
We also had a piano at home because I had three sisters, and
until I started actually playing guitar I was "forced" to take
piano lessons (later on our younger brother was born). At first
from the preachers wife (Gayle and Nancy Wetzel) in a little
church there in Kentucky, and after we moved, from various
older ladies. I never was a very good student.
When the family moved to Southeastern Indiana in the mid
1960’s my musical roots were well established in Bluegrass,
Gospel, and Country, which were alive and well in Indiana, but
as I grew older Rock 'n Roll was were it was at. Over the next
several years my world opened up to a variety of influences.
The family settled in the small town of Batesville, Indiana
where my music career began to blossom. I played in a couple
of local rock 'n roll bands and I remember playing one gig,
which we were not paid for. Not because we were stiffed, but we
were just happy to have the gig. It wasn't until I turned sixteen
before Country and Bluegrass music became a part of my life
again.
When I got my first car I started working for my uncle Ken
Caudill in Newpoint, Indiana. He owned an auto body repair
shop and my parents thought it would be a good idea if I knew
how to maintain my vehicle myself. I agreed with them and my
Uncle was kind enough to help me out. So, I started working for
my Uncle on the weekends for free and when school let out for
the summer Ken hired me on full time paying me $40 per week.
I was a long haired hippie and he was a crazy redneck from back
in Kentucky so we took turns choosing the radio station.
George Jones, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash,
Charlie Pride, Loretta Lynn, and many others were back in my
life every other day. Ken was also a musician and loved Merle
Haggard (who didn't/doesn't). It wasn't long before a band was
formed "The Hoosier Five". Ken played drums and sang Merle
Haggard songs, I played lead guitar and sang some Del Reeves,
and we had a lead singer and guitar player, Bud Demaree, that
sounded just like Freddie Hart. Bud's wife Mary played bass,
and a fellow by the name of Dennis Collins completed the five.
Ken had the state of Indiana with a 5 on it painted on the bass
drum head. That was cool. It was during this time that I started
writing my first country songs although I never played them
live.
In 1974 I/my parents decided my life was going nowhere so I
enlisted in the US Navy and began to travel the world. Looking
back it was a good decision and led me to Northwest
Washington State. I always had a guitar with me and would jam
with just about anyone, and I continued to do a few things on
my own. However, it wasn't until the mid 1980's before I was in
another band.
I had settled in the upper Skagit Valley in Northwest
Washington and there I met Jim Fichter. We started doing some
picking together and played numerous taverns etc. around the
Pacific Northwest. We both loved Bluegrass music so Jim
started playing the mandolin, we met Don Hitt who is a fantastic
banjo player and John Rantschler on bass rounded out the new
formed band "Redline". I continued writing songs, but never
performing them live, and the band continued playing around
the Northwest. When my two son's (Derrel and Benjamin) were
born I chose to change my priorities.
I started my own business restoring classic automobiles (thanks
Ken, you were a good teacher) and a couple of years later
decided that although the upper Skagit Valley was beautiful, it
was rather isolated from the real world and my son's needed to
know more about what was out there. My skill set was limited at
the time and for some unknown reason I thought that I needed
a college education. I started at Skagit Valley Community
College in Mount Vernon, WA. Close to my last quarter at SVCC
I met my wife, Jeanne Deardorff, in a calculus class. She needed
that one class to complete her Bachelor's degree at Western
Washington University. A short time later I received my AA
degree and transferred to WWU myself. I decided that I wanted
to study hydrology but it wasn't a degree option there at the
time. I began looking for other schools and found the New
Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New
Mexico, which has one of the best hydrology programs in the
nation. It was perfect; a small town, different climate, a change
for everyone. So I packed up the whole family and we moved to
New Mexico.
For almost five years I hadn't even taken my guitar out of the
case. When I finally did I found that the climate change had
caused the neck on my old flattop to warp and twist. So I strung
it up with the heavy strings on the other side hoping that would
help straighten it out and I put it back away. About a year later,
I took it to the shop and had it repaired. During this hiatus I
completed my BS degree in Environmental Science/Hydrology
and began to study for my masters degree in Geochemistry. It
turned out that I was pretty tired of school so I dropped out of
the program after the second semester and started working in
the chemistry lab for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology
(located on campus). Luckily, there are some really great
people in the Earth and Environmental Science department at
New Mexico Tech and they allowed me to complete my MS
degree in Geochemistry. During this time my son's were older
and involved in teenage boys with a drivers license things, so I
started getting back into music.
Writing songs had always been enjoyable for me and I
continued to write. I was still interested in bluegrass as well and
this led me to Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Southwest
Pickers Association where I met singer/songwriter Steve
Morgan and later banjo player extraordinaire Jeff Scroggins. I
played guitar with Steve and mandolin in his band"Coyote
Crossing" for awhile and for the first time played live one of the
songs that I had written. However, I wasn't happy with my life
at the time and was searching for something but I wasn't sure
what it was.
My son's had both recently graduated high school and I was no
longer tied to any particular location (I didn't want to move
until they had finished school). One of the student workers in
the chemistry lab had a great internship with Intel Corporation
in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and suggested that I send them an
application. I did and it turned out that they needed someone in
Santa Clara, California and I was offered the position. This
opportunity brought my wife and me to the Bay Area. My life
was exciting and I was writing new songs all the time. It was
then that I decided to go into a studio and start recording some
of my own material. I found a small studio in San Jose,
California run by a man named Gradie O'Neal with his wife
Jeannine, and after my first session Gradie witnessed to my wife
and I about the many blessings in his life and how God had
brought him through so many seemingly impossible hardships;
I just felt that I was at the right place. Gradie and Jeannine liked
my material and after a couple more small sessions I convinced
Jeannine to produce my first CD. We laid down the working
tracks and discussed the sound and feel I was going for. She said
that she knew the perfect musicians to bring in on the project -
and I totally agree with her. I am really fortunate to have some
GREAT musicians on this CD.
That brings us to now. I have more songs to record and if I
receive enough support for this CD I hope to do several others.
I believe that I have a gift for writing songs and I know that it is
a gift that can be taken from me at any time. For me, this
opportunity feels like I have come full circle in my life back to
when I was five years old and receiving my first guitar. My
music brings joy to my life and I hope that you can find
something in it for yourself. I am grateful to have the
opportunity to play for you. Thank you and may God bless.
Copyright 2007 terryraythomas.com
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TERRY RAY THOMAS
1111 WEST EL CAMINO REAL
SUITE 109, PMB 339
SUNNYVALE, CA 94087
EMAIL: terry@terryraythomas.com
TERRY RAY THOMAS
1111 WEST EL CAMINO REAL
SUITE 109, PMB 339
SUNNYVALE, CA 94087
EMAIL: terry@terryraythomas.com