Terri Binion

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How did you get your start in music? Was music prevalent in your family? 

There was a blue plastic 45 player in the bedroom that I shared with my sister and brother. There were three 45s that I listened to each day for at least an hour-long session while I sang I Want To Hold Your Hand into my hairbrush.  I probably did this at least twice a day.  I was about the age of four then. Maybe I was listening in the womb, but once I heard it, it was on. 

 

Who are your biggest inspirations? How do they influence your music/writing?

There were a lot of LPs in the house by the time I turned 11 and the 45 player was upgraded to a sleek stereo with huge speakers. My father and brother had different musical tastes, but I played records after school every day.  I enjoyed listening to everything from their collections. Eventually, I started to like folk music, maybe because of my Dad's love for Glen Campbell, and then I got into my brother's Creedence Clearwater Revival and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. 

I was still so young at this time, but later I discovered Roberta Flack and Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Carol King, Bonnie Raitt, Emmy Lou Harris, an endless list of all-time greats. I grew up in a time when the radio played all popular music of every genre on one station.  I would listen the same way in the house, I'd listen to Jackson Five and then listen to Led Zeppelin or Johnny Cash. I lived during the most amazing and explosive time in music. It all was an inspiration. 

 

What was the most difficult obstacle(s) you faced in your music career, and how did you overcome it/them? 

My "music career" started late in my life.  I had not one bit of faith or idea in my head that I would be able to create a place in the world playing music. My life has been me and my doubt and the universe trying to steer me someplace where I might find some self-worth. But when I was urged to make a record at the ripe age of 36, I had the songs and people wanting to assist me in making a record.  I think the hardest thing was having a sort of instant reaction from some people in the industry and then finding out that I was not cut out for it.  And by that, I mean that I had no idea what to do there. I had not been gearing up for what suddenly happened. I went broke and got busted up along the tour routes, came home, went back to work, and recovered so that I could pay the mortgage.

 

What is your writing process?  

I don't have great discipline for writing.  The muse comes and I follow. This is one way that I am not cut out for the music business. I also just get in a mood to be with my guitar and sometimes something starts to happen and if it feels good to me, I have learned when the first lines come, to sit back and imagine where this thing is going to go. I try to imagine first how the story is going to end, based upon the first lines and then the middle section is the hardest and most important.  I also don't try to put a square in a circle.  If the chord progression and melody is not right for a lyric it gets saved for another tune.

 

What is the story behind “Tiny Little Land Mines?”  

I wrote these lyrics as I was driving home from Port Charlotte just one day after my father's passing.  I was thinking about the condition of my family's relationship with one another, the time that was lost not knowing one another, and all that we were going through internally without sharing or communicating.  

 

I definitely feel the tension in the song. It's interesting how you say that the middle section of a song is the hardest to write. The middle section of this song is my favorite and I feel many listeners can relate:

 

She’s walking to and fro, she’s walking through time

She’s walkin’ down a long train track

Tryin’ to leave it all behind

She’s old enough to know, but too young to run

And oh how she’d love to fly but she’s cursed to the ground 

And those tiny little landmines (T Hawley Binion Music BMI. (c) 2011)

 

Can you name artists who inspired your songwriting or those you simply admire?  

Honestly, I can only be sure of one writer whose work I looked to to learn how to use my lyrics wisely and economically to write about a very complex story about a very complex person.  I studied Bob Dylan's “Hurricane “to tell the story of the crimes and the relationships of two young prisoners in my song “What Ever Happened Between Richard Payne and Burton Post?”  Otherwise, after more than 50 years of listening to music and writing music, I think it's all part of the fabric. But I feel very much that I have my own perspective.

 

You collaborate with a lot of musicians. What advice would you give to those who are hesitant to work with others, especially co-writing?

I have never successfully co-written a song with someone else. What happens is the overlap of instruments playing over the top of me trying to find a lyric or a progression is just interference in my brain.  I am also not schooled in guitar and theory, I think that can be a roadblock if you are working with pros.  I think lending either the lyric or the music to someone else's lyric is the way to go for me.  As far as recording goes, once you have a studio or producer or engineer who you collaborate well with, you should stick with that. Choose folks who you think have the feel for what you do. Know who you are working with so that you can avoid a multitude of issues and regrets. 

 

I love how the instrumentation adds texture to the scenery you are trying to paint with “Tiny Little Land Mines.”  When you wrote it, did you have an idea of how the instrumentation would sound or did you work it out in the studio with other musicians?  

As mentioned before, I wrote this song in my head while driving, not just the lyrics but also the melody.  I often get ideas behind the wheel or in the shower.  It's vibration, a kind of stimulation.  Also once I have a song on the front burner, almost 100% of the time, I hear what instruments and parts I will use. 

 

You’ve collaborated with Lucinda Williams on the song “GayleAnne.” How did you come to work with her? 

Someone introduced Lucinda to my first record. It was still the ’90s when the industry and the world were different. She reacted to the record and began to communicate with me and time went on and we were still communicating when it came time to add backing vocals on my second record.  I miss those days. I'm sure things like this are still happening to people, but that it happened to me is kind of mind-blowing. 

 

What do you think makes the Orlando music scene unique compared to other music communities? 

Honestly, I don't know that Orlando is unique in its music scene, we may have more of a scene or less of a scene. 

I don't know that that word applies so much these days. 

But I feel the experience that both working musicians and working songwriters have is that they are either thriving or still trying to figure it out. Some go to make a living, some have a dream of making it. For some, it's just something that they like to do, it brings them joy. 

It's quite expansive if you were to know the headcount. If you talk to the jazz players who have already been around for 40 years (just here in Orlando) they've already experienced the heyday and they are playing with their grandchildren and traveling. Some rock bands that got signed in the ’90s and did well have made lateral moves in the industry and have a house in a city with a couple rentals to boot. Some pro players are out making a living playing in show bands and work nights and weekends and don't see the light of day much. Some people rotate from restaurant to restaurant, coffee shop to coffee shop slinging their equipment around and getting sore in the elbows. Some people are out on cruise ships, some people play in elder care centers. 

There are thousands of guitar players, thousands of singers, thousands across this city of every genre, a world of people of every type. 

Sometimes it doesn't feel like a scene, but on those nights when there is music with an audience that is in the scene with you and you feel like everyone is relating.  And then you say thank you and we all go home. What will we remember? We will remember each other. We will remember certain sounds or words that came from certain artists at certain points in time, we were transported by the experience of live music. 

 

I see you're very involved with local organizations like Orlando Girls Rock Camp. How important is it for you to stay involved with the community? Are there other organizations you work with? 

I love OGRC and the core group of women who work hard to make this happen every summer.  It is important to me to give my time and energy there, especially during camp.  Music feels important to me and to inspire young people in these times is important to me. I think anyway that a person reaches an individual or a group of people and offers anything at all to help support them is important. I feel this in my music and TV and Film community that has been part of my life for many years now, they are my inspiration and I am grateful to have moved to Orlando in 1982.  I found a job that opened up a new world for me and I am reminded every day to do good for people.

 

What general advice can you give to aspiring singer-songwriters?

My general advice is to keep in mind that time is moving faster than you realize. Decide what you want to do. Be inspired, but be yourself first and always! Be a good editor of your work, change things that you know don't fit. Be true. 

 

What can we expect from you soon? Are you planning to release any new music? 

Hopefully, there will be some singles coming out by the end of the year!