Biography
Harmonica specialist Terry McMillan built a reputation as an in-demand studio player thanks to his singular blues-inflected approach, while also proving himself an accomplished drummer. His paid career opened in 1973 when he joined a touring ensemble that later broke up in Nashville, leaving him to secure a slot in Eddy Raven’s group at the King of the Road. Roughly eighteen months afterward, Jimmy Dean arranged an introduction to Chet Atkins, who offered McMillan a harmonica position. Still green and unable to render melodies, McMillan nevertheless impressed Atkins, who guided his shift from blues phrasing toward the Nashville sound. Subsequent road work took him into the bands of Jeannie C. Riley and Jerry Reed. Marriage prompted his retirement from the road in 1976, after which he concentrated on session dates for artists including Steve Young and Mickey Newbury throughout the remainder of the decade. Early in the 1980s he landed a solo contract with RCA Victor; although his magnetic, high-energy stage presence drew notice, the records themselves failed to connect, returning him to the studio, where his drumming skills soon surfaced. Across decades of sideman work he contributed to sessions by figures ranging from Elvis Presley to Neil Young and appeared on numerous television specials. A 1992 house fire that nearly killed his wife and children prompted deep personal reassessment, leading him to embrace Christianity. The next year he issued his debut solo album, the gospel-oriented I’ve Got a Feeling, supported by Nashville’s Christchurch Choir.
Albums
