TerryLynn Melody at Guthrie's Folk Club - 7 am Saturday 9 July 2011

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TerryLynn Melody is one of the most popular and respected singers in SL. Her Group, Terry's Trouble Makers has 538 members.  On Saturday she played at Guthrie's Folk Club which is one of the best known, hardest working and most popular music venues in SL.  I'm very happy to be able to blog both !

TerryLynn is a professional musician and songwriter streaming from Pensacola, Florida.  She has been featured on National Public Radio, Clear Channel Radio and Fox Television.  She is a truly versatile performer of originals and covers spanning folk, country, rock and blues.  She has won numerous awards for her vocals as well as several songwriting contests.  TerryLynn is very skillful on acoustic guitar and newly proficient on piano - she jokes that she's still learning this instrument :)
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I arrived at Guthrie's at the end of Rock Doghouse's show.  Rock is a fine performer who sings from the heart !  He introduced TerryLynn as -

" One of the best singers I've heard in SL and real life "

" TerryLynn sings with power, emotion and presence "

Only awake for an hour TerryLynn asked us to give her just one chance :)) She set the tone of her show on acoustic guitar singing Concrete and Barbed Wire from Louisiana's very prolific songwriter Lucinda Williams, described by critics as the female Bob Dylan.

This wall divides us, we're on two different sides
But this wall is not real, how can it be real ?
It's only made of concrete and barbed wire

Back in Algiers, my darling broke my heart
But he can't seem to break down this wall
...... ..... ....

Another prolific American songwriter Nashville's Harlan Howard formulated the oft-quoted definition of a great country song " Three chords and the truth " TerryLynn told us -

" We're gonna get a lot of truth this morning "

Canadian Lynn Miles is often compared to Lucinda Williams and her 2010 album Fall for Beauty contains her song Three Chords and the Truth TerryLynn sang it -


Oh I jumped into the well and I made my own hell
searching for three chords and the truth
...... ..... ....

" I like to wake up to this kind of music ... "

Dottie Iceberg - Guthrie's Manager

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie, born in 1912 in Oklahoma, singer-songwriter and folk musician left us a legacy of hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works.  


Guthrie's Folk Club celebrates our American folk hero and entertains with the best of folk, blues, country, rock ballads, celtic, pop, and songwriters !  No backing tracks or karaoke,  just totally 100 % live acoustic music !  The club is very well run by Dottie Iceberg who organises and presents an amazing 6 or 8 artists singing every day !! See Guthrie's calendar HERE


Amnesty International and Feed A Smile for Children in Kenya donation boxes are prominent as is the much-loved and pampered club dog affectionately called Woodrow :))

Woodrow jumps on stage with TerryLynn :))

To Ramona is a folk waltz released by Bob Dylan in 1964.  TerryLynn sang it stylishly and beautifully !


Ramona, come closer
Shut softly your watery eyes
The pangs of your sadness
Will pass as your senses will rise
...... ..... ....
Your cracked country lips
I still wish to kiss
As to be by the strength of your skin
Your magnetic movements
Still capture the minutes I'm in
...... ..... ....

***,.-:*   APPLAUSE   *:-.,***

*(¸.·'´(¸.·'´:•.•:*¨**•**¨¨*:•.•:`'·.¸)`'·.¸)*

" Actually it's 4 chords - ok I'm cheating :) This next one goes out to Woodrow my favourite SL pet :) "

Sleeping Dogs by Los Angeles artist Circe Link

Let sleeping dogs lie let by gones go by
You made your own bed where your sorrow rests
They sleep in your soul and temper the shame
With old tired eyes they close out the pain
Your worn out old friend whose memory never ends
Dreams up all the time that you've lost again
...... ..... ....

" I call her stuff cowboy jazz and I really like it :)) "

Corky Myrtle

Song number six was for her friend Corky Myrtle, Producer of San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project.


When You Say Nothing At All is a country song written by Americans Paul Overstreet and Don Schiltz and has been a hit for three singers, first in 1988 for Keith Whitley, then in 1995 for Alison Krauss.  Perhaps most remembered is Irishman Ronan Keating's chart topper in the UK in 1999.


It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing
The smile on your face let's me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
...... ..... ....


TerryLynn is strong, plucky, gutsy, perhaps feisty, and also romantic :)) Her country rendition of this song was powerful !  


" One of my favourite LA songwriters is Miss Beth Hart. I lived out there for a while .... "

Beth Hart LA Song

She hangs around the boulevard
She's a local girl with local scars
She got home late, she got home late
She drank so hard the bottle ached
and she tried, and she tried and she tried and she tried
But nothin's clear in a bar full of flies
...... ..... ....

Man I gotta get outta this town
Man I gotta get outta this pain
...... ..... ....

I love everything about this song, the rhythm, the melody the lyrics just grab me !  And yes the brilliant rendition by TerryLynn !

Then Beth Hart again Leave The Light On

I've seen myself, with a dirty face
I've cut my luck with a dirty ace
I leave a light on
I leave a light on
I went from zero, to minus ten
I drank your wine, then stole your man
...... ..... ....
'Cause I wanna love !!
And I wanna live !!

•¸¸.•´¯`» *** * So Sooo Beautiful * *** «´¯`•.¸¸•

" I'm sorry I'm on a Beth Hart roll this morning ... truth is sometimes scary ... an amazing song way too much truth ... "


There was a good crowd of 35 people in the audience midway through the show.


TerryLynn moved over to the piano for her 9th song.

" Ok a Beth Hart trilogy :)) "

Mama is one of the most powerful of Beth's many great songs. TerryLynn's strength and presence came right through :))


Mother may I.... and I would say
Yes sweet baby take it away .....
It won't be long
Just remember that
Powerful is the woman in you
Stay true now !!
...... ..... ....

Then, still on piano TerryLynn tried an arrangement of Londoner Adele's Someone Like You There's a lot of piano in this and TerryLynn did well to get through it :)) 


I heard
That you're settled down
That you
Found a girl
And you're
Married now


I heard
That your dreams came true
Guess she gave you things
I didn't give to you
...... ..... ....

" I still screw it up...  it's hard learning a new instrument "

Back to acoustic guitar and TerryLynn sang some of her 30 or so originals including Show a Little Mercy and The End is Near

I hear a train a comin'
Now the track has started rumblin'
I think it's comin'
Oh Lord I think the end is near !


Her last of the morning was the wonderful tuneful song by Washington girl Brandi Carlile The Story  This is the song I'll remember :)) It was made for TerryLynn's voice to sing :))


All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story who I am
So many stories where I've been
And I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no-one to tell them to
It's true 
I was made for you
...... ..... ....

Yes ! I'm very glad I gave TerryLynn that chance :)) and will certainly seek out her shows again !!

" Don't forget to pat Woody ! "

" Oh my that sounded awful ---- just my mind ! "

" Have a wonderful day... bye :)) "

Further information about TerryLynn Melody and many other Second Life live music performers can be found in our linked blog HERE


Here's the SLURL to get to Guthrie's Folk Club
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