Born 73 Years Ago Today in North Carolina, the Four-Time ACM Musician of the Year Who Played Alongside Country Legends From Merle Haggard to Garth Brooks

On this day (October 12) in 1953, drummer and harmonicist Terry Lee McMillan was born in Lexington, North Carolina. One of the most in-demand sessions musicians of the late 20th century, McMillan lent his bluesy harmonica style to songs like Garth Brooks’ “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)” and his drumming skills to Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It”. He worked with Chet Atkins, toured with Jerry Reed and Jeannie C. Riley, and played alongside everyone from Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, and more.

Terry McMillan died at age 53 on February 2, 2007, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Today, we’re honoring his many contributions to country music on what would have been his 73rd birthday.

Terry McMillan Started Playing the Harmonica Almost By Accident

At age 10, an older friend taught Terry McMillan the blues riff from Muddy Waters’s “I’m A Man” on the harmonica. However, he wouldn’t get serious about the instrument for another seven years.

“The band I was in was playing in the club, and the place was pretty empty,” McMillan told British music journalist Alan Cackett in 1997. “I just got up and started playing a little harmonica and the keyboard player went over and started playing drums, the bass player got up, the guitar player got up and we did ‘I’m A Man’. They went crazy, and so it stayed in the show.”

Stranded in Nashville: “Fly or Die”

Terry McMillan’s country music career began in 1973. That year, he was playing drums and occasional blues harmonica in a Top 40 covers band. The band abruptly split up after a show in Nashville, leaving McMillan stranded. The next day, he joined country singer Eddy Raven’s band as a drummer.

After parting ways with Raven in 1974, Chet Atkins hired McMillan to play harmonica in his touring band.

“I came to town as a drummer and he wanted me to play harmonica. I had to learn quick,” McMillan recalled. “He taught me how to practice my instrument, because, being a drummer is a whole lot different to playing a noted instrument.

Atkins couldn’t stop telling anyone who’d listen about the new young talent he’d discovered, which led to McMillan’s first major session on Jeannie C. Riley’s 1974 song “Plain Vanilla”.

“Chet groomed me for three years. Then it was fly or die,” McMillan said. “People started calling me and I had to be able to do it.”

A Brief Solo Career and Never-Ending Session Work

Also thanks to Chet Atkins, Terry McMillan briefly signed with RCA Records in the early 1980s. But other than reaching number 85 on the Hot Country Songs chart with “Love Is a Full Time Thing”, his solo career never really took off.

Thus, McMillan returned to session work, which proved much more fruitful. He toured internationally with Amy Grant, Michael W.A. Smith and Larry Carlton. Additionally, he was part of an all-star ensemble selected to perform at President Bill Clinton’s inaugural ball in 1993. McMillan stole the show with his harmonica performance of “Amazing Grace”.

You may recognize McMillan from his harmonica solo on Garth Brooks’ 1993 chart-topper “Ain’t Going Down (Til The Sun Comes Up)“, which he later recreated during a series of sold-out shows at Texas Stadium in Irving.

Later Career

Terry McMillan turned to his Christian faith after seeing his family home destroyed in a 1992 house fire. Focusing mainly on inspirational music, he released two albums, 1993’s I’ve Got a Feeling and 1997’s Somebody’s Comin.

[RELATED: These 4 Country Songs From 1993 Are Best Turned up Loud]

Additionally, he won Musician of the Year honors from the Academy of Country Music’s specialty instrument category for four consecutive years beginning in 1993.

Featured image by Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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