Today we’d like to introduce you to Terrence Cunningham.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Terrence. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Like most aspiring artists, I’d mustered the courage to move to LA with two suitcases and a dream. I am a singer/songwriter/musician, originally from Washington, DC. I come from a family of musicians, including my Great Aunt, the late blues legend Etta Baker. I was given my first keyboard at the age of 3; my father picked out the chords to Little Red Corvette, asking if I could mimic what he’d played.
They tell me I played the chords back verbatim. Thus, the seeding of my music career had begun. My parents perpetuated my talent by enrolling me into piano lessons and giving me stage to sing in church, my mother being the choir director, I really didn’t have a choice. I continued my musical studies through grade school and college. I decided to move to LA after my daughter graduated high school. I’d couch surfed for a few months, jumped from hotel to hotel. I’d check out of one hotel at 12 noon, then sit at Starbucks for a few hours before checking in to the next hotel. I’d sit on my laptop, searching for gigs and I remember the refill of coffee was only 50 cents; something I was able to afford. Due to the kindness of my friends in LA, they’d also allow me to crash on their couch; some for a few nights and others for as long as I needed. My first major gig in LA was playing spot dates with Nate Ruess. Within 13 months of living in LA, still couch surfing and paying rent to friends on a month to month basis, my lease was up and I’d planned to move back to DC.
In that same month, I was asked to audition for NBC’s The Voice. I was apprehensive about being on the show; nevertheless, the show provided housing, so I wouldn’t have to leave LA if I made it on the show. Thankfully, my audition to be on the show went incredibly well. Come to find out, the hotel where we were sequestered was the exact first hotel I lived in when I first moved to LA. Talk about full circle. I went from paying to live in that hotel to being paid to live there. My blind audition of my cover of My Girl gained a four chair turn in less than 30 seconds; something that had never happened before. I was number two trending on YouTube, number 1 on the iTunes R&B charts, and in the Top 50 overall. All this because I’d mustered the courage to follow my heart and step out on faith without a true sense of what may have happened. I’ve since been living in Echo Park and traveling across the country doing shows and sharing with my global audience.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been easy. Some days, I was unsure where I was going to sleep; especially, if I wasn’t able to afford a hotel that night. Money was a bit scarce at times; nevertheless, thanks to my wonderful friends and family, I never went without a meal and always found a place to sleep. All this, a worthy sacrifice.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
Pulling from many sources of musical inspiration, my music can best be described as alternative soul. My songs pull from life in a vulnerably honest way. Being a trained musician, and though rooted in theory, I endeavor to create and perform mostly from instinct. Steeped in the natural velvet of black music, the pain and drama from the sweaty pulpit is peppered with heavy guitar, and slow buildups to swelling musical climaxes. Think Coldplay if Chris Martin was raised in the black church, or U2, if Bono was a child of the delta.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Absolutely. Filled with so much energy, LA is great for every type of art, the entertainment industry especially. The plethora of music venues, museums, restaurants, I would recommend LA for artists and creatives for sure. There’s some many different fields of industry and opportunity for one to express their art.
Pricing:
- Features mostly start around $5000
Contact Info:
- Phone: 2027092163
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Instagram.com/afriendtotheworld
- Facebook: facebook.com/Terrence.Cunningham
- Twitter: twitter.com/terrencewins
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