Terry Ohms is at home, and his guitar is close. That’s on purpose. “I mean, you can’t record a song if you’re anywhere else but in your chair in front of the computer or console with a guitar nearby.” It makes sense. Home is where he wants to be. Yes, he’s been to New York City to play shows and he’s seen the Great Wall of China, but he doesn't like traveling.
“Some people love it, and I think that’s great for them. I would rather be at home.” When I press for more, he explains, “Do not like cruises or airplanes or airports and standing in line for everything. That’s what traveling is for me: standing in line and waiting for everything everywhere.”
Ohms continues, “I have a 4K television and a stereo system that takes me all over the place.” It is home where he creates his adventures with a TV, a guitar, a stereo, or a console. That is in his music, too.
“Nice shoes. Are those new?” His reply is only, “Thanks, I’ve had these.”
He is the real thing: a man of mystery with fourteen albums now released, his most recent being Mass Leisure, a romp, a polished piece artful of rock ‘n’ roll, a stylized journey through the shit of America that knows how to party despite the notion that good Christian women end up with “a slick politician” and “the shit just keeps going.”
He oscillates from the pointedly serious to the seriously funny, both in music and in person, often in the same breath. How can life be better, I wonder, and Ohms does not hesitate. “If that guy from New York who lives in Washington and Mara Lago died.” When asked about something that he doesn’t complain about, but feels that he could: “Eric Clapton and Aerosmith. Oh, wait. I do.” It draws a slight smile from Ohms. Barely.
Ohms quips and frequents conversations with one liners. When he receives any adoration, it’s when people say, “Nice shoes. Are those new?” His reply is only, “Thanks, I’ve had these.” The epitome of his tone.
That tone taken with the characters in his songs, and its no wonder these are slimy people who wish for fortune and fame but do not put the work in. On Mass Leisure, his “Medicine Man” is a devil of sorts who requests, “Brother, can I get in the club?/Am I good lookin’ enough?” When it comes to reality, people he knows, he would label friends as either “truth-teller” or “bullshitter” and he loves both. That the devil dances around in his songs should come as no surprise.
Terry Ohms has opinions. A musical hill he’ll die on is that The Who’s best album is It’s Hard. “Kenny Jones is a better drummer than Keith Moon.” Strong words. But Ohms doesn’t shy away from making a point.
His ideas for how to create and how to be a musician would help anyone who is starting. “It’s ok to not know what you’re doing. No one does. Confidence will grow from experience and experience only. Make the music and follow your instincts and listen to your inner voice. Go see good bands do their thing.”
Terry Ohms Photography: Jason Hamric of Team Clearmont
He has a full roadmap. As he talks, his voice tenses slightly, “Never be about pleasing anyone but yourself.” His guide on being a good musician adheres to the internal artist (“Everybody thought Galileo was nuts” but “accept criticism graciously from those you know that care about you and what you’re doing.” ), rehearsal (show up on time and don’t waste time telling “long stories about how wasted Hank was last night” because “band practice is not story time” due to “four or five people had to arrange their busy lives.”), and timing (“Stop sitting around thinking about and talking about. Do it now”). It is solid advice. Things will still hinder a musician, even one as prolific as Terry Ohms. “It takes a while” for lyrics to come to him, but “it also is the most satisfying.”
It could account for his output. What helps Ohms with writing and producing is all “of the pauses are taken along the way of creating the work. There are thousands of them. Half of writing or more is pausing and waiting on the universe to deliver the next line.” Like a lot of life, it’s stop and go.
It is Terry Ohms who sits to answer my questions, but there is more to him than Terry Ohms. It’s as if, at times, he’s another person. He is a giant of Birmingham music, a giant who stays a little under the radar for no damn good reason. He gets compliments but “it’s rare.” He appreciates it and uses it to “move the train on to the next station.”
Perhaps friends notice. He has plenty who are also in the music scene of Birmingham. In fact, he plays with the Magic City supergroup The Blips on top of making his own tunes. I wonder who is his favorite in the group, and he reveals, “Me with a distant second of probably either Chris McCaulley, Taylor Hollingsworth, Will Stewart, or Eric Wallace. Those guys were pretty good blips, just not my favorite.”
Yet when it comes to his favorite musicians and singers beyond the scope of Birmingham, he’s quick to reply: “Not Eric Clapton or Aerosmith. Everybody else is great.”
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