Terrell

Born on 15 March 1961 in Birmingham, Alabama, Charles Allen Terrell spent most of his early years in the smaller community of Albertville. From childhood onward he sang and played guitar, performing both in church settings and on talent-show stages that gradually brought him wider notice. After finishing high school he enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville to study music. There he teamed with fellow student Richard Smith, known as Hawk, to create the guitar-and-conga duo Innuendo; the pair later enlarged the lineup into the band Rococo, which achieved only modest results.

In 1988 Terrell and Hawk had relocated to Los Angeles, where they assembled another group that secured Terrell a deal with I.R.S. Records. The band issued one album, On The Wings Of Dirty Angels, before breaking up, after which Terrell spent several lean years seeking another opportunity. He eventually signed with PointBlank Records and issued two well-received albums in the mid-1990s that brought greater recognition and a series of international tours. His style merged contemporary blues with R&B, presenting a polished surface that masked a harder undercurrent. Many of the songs in his catalog were originals that directly addressed the darker corners of present-day existence.

Terrell intended to release a new album titled Taking The Jesus Pill, yet the label rejected the premise. In the late 1990s he instead mounted a touring stage production that developed the same theme. His 1999 solo album 3 Links In A Broken Chain was written and recorded as a tribute to Hawk, who had died of a drug overdose in July 1998. The Taking The Jesus Pill show was revived in 2004 and led to an invitation from Polly Parsons to help design video presentations honoring the career of her father, Gram Parsons. Terrell and Polly Parsons wed in May 2005. Among the musicians who have performed with his backing group, the Vibe Assassins, are organists Tommy Ayre and John Nau, guitarist Rich Meijer (Meyer), bassist J. Swanson, and drummer Jim Doyle.