Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, guitarist, entertainer and performer Terry Roland Smith has been dazzling audiences and competition for decades with his smoothed trained two-and-a-half octave voice, multiple advanced left and right hand guitar techniques and Terry's One of a Kind jazz based more sophisticated pop music repertoire previously considered impossible for an Acoustic solo act to perform with no backing tracks or loopers.

 

Terry nightly not only proves the impossible possible, he has made it routine with audiophile quality live PA sound inside or out. "Refreshingly upscale" and "far from the typical easy pick fun strum campfire caliber three-chord solo guy" are two of the quickest, easiest and most accurate ways to describe Terry Roland Smith.

 

In fact, Terry is the only acoustic/vocal solo act in the entire Southeastern PA region performing or attempting to perform his act consisting not only 18 Steely Dan songs including Aja and Deacon Blues performed mirror perfect from the record note for note, chord for chord, but also other jazz based songs from Chicago, George Benson, Al Jeareau, etc., In addition to guitar songs such as Flight of the Bumblebee, Classical Gas and Hocus Pocus by Focus and some jazz pop originals.

 

Although Terry will do a few easy songs in the course of the evening they mainly serve to rest his fingers and voice before resuming more musically challenging material.

 

But it's not just the material Terry plays it's how he plays it. Terry has developed a unique cross flat picking technique that sounds like 2 guitars playing different parts at the same time one flat-picking and one finger picking. This coupled with Terry's very percussive guitar attack and his running bass lines underneath create the illusion of two guitars, a percussionist, a bass player and a lead vocalist all done in real time on acoustic guitar with no backing tracks, loopers or drum machines, just great PA system sound.

 

Starting guitar at age 9 Terry was soon practicing 4 to 5 hours a day every day missing breakfasts, lunches, dinners, school buses, television shows and more. Terry quickly advanced to be able to pick out and play all the rhythm and lead guitar parts on top 40 radio by ear and developed an acute talent for ear training in the process.

 

Turning pro at age 12 Terry found himself playing in bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels with older musicians and learned how entertainment and performance are just as important as the music itself when trying to please an audience.

 

By age 13 Terry was playing and singing to concert audiences in a traveling variety show led by former Atlantic City Steel Pier MC Larry Smith.

 

At age 15, Terry was one of the 6 second Tenors with the singing city choir of Philadelphia performing two sold-out shows at the Academy of Music with the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor William Smith performing an original composition by Michael Colgrass entitled "The earth's a Baked Apple" to great reviews.

 

Numerous other adventures would lead Terry to recording session work in Nashville, attending Berklee College of Music, 9 years fronting show bands, doing a television commercial for Theater Vision running for 2 years on Philly Channel 10 and 29 as Captain Video and doing lots and lots of recording with grammy-winning Philadelphia area producers Phil and Joe Nicolo who incidentally co-produced Terry's latest release Jazz/Pop 101 available on Amazon and ITunes.

 

For booking contact Terry Roland Smith at TerryRolandSmith1 at gmail.com or

610-517-2762.