Louder Than The Music

Terry Bell is a successful Nashville singer, songwriter, musician, producer and performer and seasoned veteran of the music business and a well respected professional in the community. In this interview with Louder Than The Music Terry talks more about his music, and shares about his experience with long covid.

For those who haven't heard of you before, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved in making music?

I’ve been living in Nashville ,writing songs , performing, creating and producing music since I moved here in 1988, but I’m originally from Grand Forks , North Dakota where I grew up .I did my first live radio performance when I was 5 years old at my local church. My mom got me an electric guitar and amp when I was 14, I’m a child of the 60’s and 70’s. I spent my early teen years in my room learning to play songs by my favorite bands like the Beatles, The Monkees, Paul Revere and the Raiders , Rolling Stones and the Hollies, , I loved pop melodies that were playing on the radio back then and since I love the real life stories in country, the songs I write today are a blend of country, pop and the rock side of me with a heartfelt story and message.

I left home at 18 and have been playing music in clubs, bars, concerts, from California, to New York ever since I left my home town. When I moved to Berkeley I met another North Dakotan named Michael Carney ,we started performing as the duo Dakotah and played on Fisherman's Wharf as street musicians in San Francisco and played clubs like the Catalyst in Sana Cruz , We moved to Eugene, Ore and formed the band, it was was one of the top regional acts in the Pacific Northwest in the 70’s . We we were regular performers at the Oregon Country Fair, opened shows for acts including; Country Joe and the Fish, Elvin Bishop, Steppenwolf, Beautiful Day, Head East, Robert Cray Band and David Bromberg, I left the band in `1980 and moved to New York to pursue a career as a singer song writer and performed at local writers nights as a featured performer in Long Island area including My Fathers Place where Billy Joel got his start.

If your readers want to find out more about me and my 30 + years in the music business I’m posting a link to my website so they find out more about who I am as an artist and check out my music, press and videos by going to terrybellmusic.com

Tell us about your new single 'She's Got a Heart Like Mine (remix)' and what’s the backstory, and inspiration behind it was ?

The Back Story- I came up with the song title and idea back in the late 90’s when my co-writer Thad Christopher and I were writing songs for his artist development and production deal with a Nashville production company. They loved the songs we were writing so I was included in his deal. We were blessed to get to work Keith Olsen who produced Fleetwood Mac , Rick Springfield, Whitesnake , Heart, Pat Benatar, Grateful Dead and Santana and many well known pop and rock acts. Keith loved the song and we demoed it but it was never released . 30 years later I recorded the song and it hits 1# in the Independent Music Network Country Charts, and it is currently being promoted to Country and Christian Country stations in US,Canada and UK.



The Inspiration- I’m a real romantic guy so I think the song was written from my past relationships and my idea of finding a women that would have a heart like mine, someone who was caring , kind and saw the good and bad in me and loved me for who I am. Thad was married and had a great relationship with his wife so we wrote the lyrics from our personal relationships . I wrote melody and the hook of the song and we worked on the lyrics together.

I would still like to find a women like out there , if you know any one like that , let me know, ha ha

The past few years have been a difficult time for many, during the pandemic, but I understand that you have first hand experience of Covid? Would you mind tell us a little about what happened to you?

I got Covid and a severe case of pneumonia in Dec 2020, about 2 years ago right after Christmas. I had mild symptoms the first week but one night I woke up and I couldn’t breathe and had a very high temperature so I called 911 and they sent an ambulance to take me to the hospital . I was in intensive care unit for about 2 weeks and wore and oxygen mask to help me breathe better but I did not need a ventilator , cause the doctor said I had a strong set of lungs and I was going to make it. It was a very frightening and fearful time but the nurses were very kind an encouraging and my family and friends were praying for me and calling to see how I was doing. After I was released from the hospital I was transferred to a nursing home to recover and start physical therapy . I was so weak I could hardly walk and I still had to have oxygen while I was there. I was there about 6 weeks recovering and getting physical therapy to strengthen my muscles and get strong enough to go home. I got there Jan 15th and was released to go home the end of Feb. Being in a nursing home was not a good experience and not something I would like to go through again.

I knew that the Lord was with me but there were times when I had my doubts and fears but I leaned on Jesus and his promises that he would walk with me through the darkness and get me to the other side and I was going to be alright. I believe he carried me when I was too weak to walk and comforted me when I was afraid and he did because I’m still here. It was his grace alone that saved me , it was one of the hardest and most challenging times in my life I have ever been through. I walked through the valley of the shadow, my faith grew and God gave me the strength and courage I needed just when I needed it most and I have learned some lessons about life, having faith and not losing hope . I have a new song I’m writing from my Covid experience titled “ I’m Still Here “ that I plan to record in the near future.

As a 'Long Covid' sufferer, how are you feeling now, and what are the long term affects for you personally?

I’m still dealing with Post Covid Long Hauler symptoms like muscle ache and weakness , pain , sinus, and some shortness of breath , mainly after I do my walks and but the hardest one to deal with is chronic fatigue , there are some days that I don’t want to get out of bed but others were I feel almost normal , on the days I feel tired I rest and take it easy and don’t do a lot but on my strong days I get a lot more activites and things done because I have the energy, its really one day at a time. I had a Physical therapist that really helped me and gave me some exercises to build up my endurance and strength, over all I’m doing so much better, I’m gaining back my weight that I lost and getting stronger day by day, I ‘m part of a Post Covid long hauler group and some of the people I know are having much worse symptoms then me. I don’t have any cognitive or memory issues, which I’m very Thankful and grateful to God for. I’m learning to have patience with the healing process. I know its gonna take time for my body awhile to recover but I’m hopeful and have faith it will happen. I’m doing the best I can as I’m on the journey back to being healthy again.

You released a song called 'Find the Stars' which you've previously said took on a special meaning after Covid, can you expand on that for us?

Yes , I’d be happy to. I think the reason the song become so personal to me is that was living out the story and the message in the song and it helped me to have hope that even If I have to walk through a dark or difficult time like my Covid experience I was not alone, though I felt like that some it felt like that the Lord was not there or didn’t care about what was happening to me , when I was afraid or had doubts and my faith was the weakest I prayed and was honest with God and how I was feeling, he sent me friends, family who called and let me know they were praying for me and that they loved and cared about me and a woman who just showed up who was not on the regular nursing staff and gave me a big hug telling me I was going to be alright when I was having a hard day, They were the stars in my life that helped me find my way.