The following is an edited interview Terry graciously gave the Blueslamp in July of 2005.
BLUESLAMP (BL): First things first, where are you actually from?
TERRY EASTERWOOD: Born and raised in Temple, Texas. For those who aren't familiar with the town, it's about an hour north of Austin on I-35.
BL: Is that where you became interested in blues music?
TERRY: I have to think hard about where I became interested in blues, in particular, because my years in Temple were pretty much an immersion in music of all kinds. I do remember very much hearing and enjoying a compilation that included Taj Mahals "Bacon Fat" with Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, Johnny Winter's acoustic slide on "Dallas" and others. I had Freddie King's "Burglar" album too. I pretty much wore out the grooves (and almost Mom's patience) learning to play licks with ZZ Top's "First Album", and thought they went commercial on everything after "Tres Hombres," but you gotta love Billy G.
BL: How'd you end up in the Northwest?
TERRY: Transferred by my employer. It was a promotion, but it was a tough decision to make, personally. I have a lot of family (both parents, my sister, and my daughter and son) back in central Texas.
BL: We've all heard you play a lot of different blues styles. What sort of blues appeals to you most?
TERRY: I used to like flashier "guitar slinger" kind of stuff, and it has its place, but what appeals to me most these days when I'm listening to blues is how different people are so identifiable by their sound (tone, phrasing, articulation.) If they can answer, musically, "what's different about you?" it usually gets a grin out of me. There are a lot of people like that at the jams up here, and that's what I really enjoy.
On the other hand, I like to be as versatile as I can be. I try to think of things to do to keep similar songs from sounding the same by changing the way I chord behind verses and things like that, if I'm not to confused by having to sing while I'm doing it.
I appreciate that you say I've played a lot of blues styles. I have to thank all the people I've played with, listened to, and learned from for that.
BL: What are some of your guitar influences?
TERRY: Brain surgeons, screen door repairmen, and all points in-between.
Seriously, it's easier to say who I have not attempted to copy instead of who I have. I saw Les Paul up close and personal when I was in my early teens, and I have to believe that was inspirational, looking back. It sure showed me there was more to playing than what I heard on the radio. Herb Ellis probably had a bigger impact on my life decisions about music, but that's anoter story.
Mr. Bill Dowdy, an original Texas swing player, did more to demonstrate the value of solid rhythm playing to me than anyone I've ever seen or heard in my life. He is virtually unknown and a true treasure of a musician.
BL: When a person hears you are from Texas, they may think of Stevie Ray Vaughan...
TERRY: As much as I was happy for what SRV accomplished, and admired his proficiency, I wouldn't attempt to copy that style, and tend not to play his tunes, because so many others do.
As far as rock and blues go...
After learning too many Billy Gibbons licks, I learned some Johnny Winter (but not much), then Freddie King really caught my ear. Bits and pieces of Clapton. A little bit of old Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown. After seeing Jimmy Vaughan up close, I appreciated his rhythm playing and the subtle nature of his delivery. Anson Funderburgh is someone I've just started listening to a little bit, and his style somes from that same, understated, cool place.
BL: You play like someone who's put in years blues-gigging five nights a week. Did you do time on that grinding road, or did the grown-up job thing make music a hobby?
TERRY: The day job is definitely a priority.
I think what you hear in my playing is someone who has matured.I have nothing to prove through licks that I play. I'd rather play tonefully and musically than play exercises.
Herb Ellis told me when I was a senior in high school about how you had to be willing to suffer to be a musician, and it made a huge impression on me, for a guy that great to be that bitter (and he was very, very bitter when he said it). That made me focus on getting an engineering degree.
Another factor was that I did not ever, ever want to end up having to take a gig at the Holiday Inn playing "Stardust" or something in order to make ends meet. If I'm going to play, I'll play what I want to. That's what gives me energy.
All that being said, God only knows what I'd be playing now if I'd have chosen to do it for a living and really gone for it, but with my wife (25 years this year) and kids, I wouldn't change a thing.
I could always enjoy things a little more than I do, but I believe I'm a very fortunate person to have a good day job and be able to play and express myself through music, too. So many things can happen to you in a lifetime, and I just feel blessed.
BL: Let's talk gear, which is your favorite guitar?
TERRY: Before I wax eloquent with similes (asking me to name my favorite guitar is like...), let's just say that I have come to appreciate Mr. Leo Fender's first and best electric design, the Telecaster.
The one I bought (used, on lay-away) from a store in my wife's hometown of Little Rock back in 1980 is my "run back and save it from the burning house" guitar. I stripped it down and put it back together again, setting it up the way I like it, but didn't really use it much until I played country and swing music with some folks back in Texas. I always thought it was better for rock and blues than other Tele's I've played, and it's certainly proven to be a great instrument for blues.
I grew up a Gibson guy, though, and depending on who's playing what when and where, I might pull a different club out of the bag.
BL: Favorite amp?
TERRY: I like to use simple tube amps with no reverb circuits, but might try different amps of this type for different tones and inspirations.
BL: To use or not to use pedals?
TERRY: I tend to stay away from pedals, but I will use a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 that lets me coax a little juice out of the amps at a lower volume.
Other pedals are cool, and I've considered more experimentation, but I have to be careful. If I find myself piddling with too many variables, I tweak too much while I'm playing and I'm afraid that can take away from the fundamental act of playing the guitar.
BL: Is there a vocalist who has influenced your blues singing?
TERRY: As much as I learned his licks when I was young, I sang a lot of Billy Gibbons stuff because it was in my range. I've had more than a little experience singing in choirs, though, and that gets you back to more pure singing. Old hymns and their harmonies are something I always enjoyed.
I always liked Freddie King, but I can't sing like him. Same with Albert King. Same with BB, and as a guitar player, I really didn't appreciate his singing until I got older and really paid attention to what he was doing when he wasn't playing guitar.
To this day, I'm a lot more self-concious about my singing because, in spite of the choir stuff, I don't really work on my "chops" singing like I do on guitar. It takes a lot of discipline. That inhibits me, and I know it. I need to approach singing more like something I can do and enjoy interacting with the audience, instead of it being a necessary evil.
BL: Where have you performed blues up here in the Northwest?
TERRY: I started attending the Dakota Creek and Wild Buffalo blues jams in 2003. I've played at the Little Roadside on and off, too.
I played a gig with The Atlantics after their guitar player relocated. Paul Klein's a great guy and the whole band is really professional and tight. It was a joy to play with them.
When Andy Koch got back from Alaska in 2004, Randy Howe took a sabbatical and I gigged with the Badd Dog Blues Society. That really helped me sharpen up my chops in general and blues chops in particular.
BL: Do you consider yourself a songwriter?
TERRY: I've had some elusive flashes of ideas that could have been songs, but I'm even more self conscience about lyrics than I am of singing. In the '81-'85 timeframe I had a lot of instrumental ideas that I captured, but only one thing that remotely resembled a song with lyrics.
I think I'm an instrumentalist more than a songwriter.
BL: Have you gotta memorable worst gig story?
TERRY: Worst gig was at an SPJST hall in Cyclone, Texas when I was a teenager.SPJST is a Czech fraternal organization, and they have halls all over Texas. A lady called and said she wanted a rock band for a kid's dance, and I said "are you sure?" She said yes, it was for the kids and the kids wanted a rock band.
There wasn't a redneck in the place under 40, and when we tried to appease them with a Jerry Jeff Walker tune, it was met with a not-too-subtle demand for some #$&% Merle Haggard.
One particularly red-eyed hostile guy that kept telling us to turn off that #$&% #$%& down came up face to face with me and I told him "look..." and the story about how we were recruited to play our stuff for a kids dance.
Well, that was Otis Black of Otis Black and the Best Yets, who played a lot of polkas around there, and he came up with an acoustic guitar and said, "Follow me, boys," and played some Merle Haggard tune to calm the restless natives. Then he told the lady in the kitchen, "fix these boys some hamburgers with everything, hold the beans."
That was when I came to appreciate that country-western music was a genre I had yet to really learn how to play.
BL: Thanks for taking all the time to answer all the questions, anything you'd like to add?
TERRY: Just glad to be where blues is appreciated by a reasonably supportive group of players and fans. I've never really lived in an area where you can get up on stage and play blues in a venue where people are entertained, and it's just a joy to be part of it.
(photo courtesy of Noona Walton, copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved)
at the Buffalo Blues Invitational
