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Terry Balsamo
TerryBalsamo
Date of Birth October 8, 1972 (age 50)
Genre Alternative metal, gothic metal, gothic rock

Terry Balsamo (born October 8, 1973, in Jacksonville, Florida) is Evanescence's former lead guitarist. He joined in 2003 replacing Ben Moody as Evanescence's lead guitarist.[1] He co-wrote most tracks on The Open Door with Amy Lee as well as on the band's third album Evanescence. He left the band due to his health on August 7th, 2015 before the band embarked on tour. Evanescence's guitarist Troy McLawhorn became lead guitraist, and Jen Majura was hired as rhythm guitarist.

Terry was Amy Lee's collaborator in The Open Door: Amy Lee said about the writing process of The Open Door:

"The big amazing thing is I went through this spectrum of emotions. We started off feeling really free and amazing and good, because I felt like I'd been liberated as an artist. [After Moody's departure], I didn't have somebody — I don't want to be mean — holding me back. Instead, I had [Balsamo] lifting me up. Terry is just an amazing instigator. He'll push me to do something I wouldn't have done maybe, because I'd be afraid to or something. He's a great writer, and it was just like we were just having fun with it for a change. It was like, 'Let's stop taking everything so seriously and have fun,' and we wrote a lot of songs that I'm just totally in love with."

"It's a completely different writing process [than with Moody]. Terry's completely laid-back. There's no pressure of wanting to rule the world. Terry and I will just sit in a room and jam." "I really wanted to make it better than ever, and for me that means incorporating a lot of my natural, classical influence into the music. The writing of this record was the best process of my life because I had free reign. I could do whatever I wanted without being judged or being told it's stupid."

Career[]

Early Projects and Cold[]

After a quick run with the early line-up of Limp Bizkit in 1995, Terry joined up with fellow Jacksonville rockers Scooter Ward, Sam McCandless, Jeremy Marshall and Kelly Hayes, of the band Cold in 1999.

Terry remained with Cold writing and recording with them for their albums 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage (2000) and Year of the Spider (2003). Terry also appeared alongside Staind, in Staind's MTV Unplugged performance in 2001. Near the end of his stint with Cold, the band joined Evanescence as an opening act on the 2003 Nintendo Fusion Tour.

Balsamo briefly re-joined Cold for their early 2009 reunion tour. According to a post on Cold's Facebook page on July 8, 2016, Terry has returned to the band, and they will begin recording their next album in August 2016. The album, titled The Things We Can't Stop, was released in September 2019.

Evanescence[]

When Evanescence's guitarist Ben Moody left the band during their European tour, Balsamo filled in for Moody on stage.[2] When Cold's future suddenly came into question, Balsamo jumped ship, signing on for good with Evanescence. He has also become a songwriter with lead singer and songwriter of Evanescence, Amy Lee. The first song he wrote with her was "Snow White Queen."[1]

Balsamo can be seen and heard in Evanescence's live album, Anywhere but Home (2004), and on the band's second album The Open Door (2006) and third album Evanescence. He became Amy Lee's collaborator and co-wrote on most songs of The Open Door, including the album's first single, "Call Me When You're Sober" and third single "Sweet Sacrifice". He also recorded and co-wrote Evanescence's self-titled third album.[3] He would originally record both lead and rhythm guitar on the album during the 2010 Lillywhite sessions that were later scrapped at Wind-up's behest.[3] Guitarist Troy McLawhorn re-joined the band during the making of the album, so Terry recorded the lead guitar on the final sessions.

On August 7, 2015, it was announced on the band's Facebook that Terry had parted ways with Evanescence, and Jen Majura was hired.[4] His departure was not on bad terms.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Everywhere But Home". Metal Edge magazine. March 2005. Issue 11. Pages 22–25.
  2. D'Angelo, Joe (January 16, 2004). "Evanescence Name New Guitarist"VH1.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Lee, Amy (March 2, 2010). "Just one thing to clarify from this article". EvThreads.
  4. "Evanescence's Terry Balsamo Exits, Jen Majura Joins Band". August 9, 2015. Loudwire.

Gallery[]


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