Terry McMillan Gospel Harmonica Finds

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It’s kind of funny that I’m not a Christian, but I sometimes play gospel music. But then again, it’s really not considering my biggest influence on the harmonica and my teacher/best friend are both well-known country and gospel players, lol. I’d like to show you all two things I found last night.
In September of 1993, Terry McMillan got to play in Moscow, Russia for a packed arena at a concert hosted by TBN. This performance featured his versions of the songs, “I Saw the Light” by Hank Williams and “Amazing Grace”, his signature song. Right before performing “I Saw the Light”, Terry did an improvised blues harmonica solo and it left me speechless to say the least. It was only himself in that portion, no background music and no visual effects. It was just him playing his harmonica. The solo itself is really rhythmic as he did a lot of vamping and chugging in it, but he also interlaced it with some lead parts. He did miss his cue for his vocals twice, but managed to get back up as normal.
Harp used: Hohner Golden Melody in D

Another clip that was posted recently was Terry playing with CCM legend Amy Grant. She released a new album and it is dedicated to Terry who played on the road with her in 1989. He played with his heart and soul during the ending harmonica solo and stole the show. The album is out now on Spotify.
Harp used: Hohner Golden Melody in Bb

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Thank you for posting this. I am a Christian and enjoy listening to all types of music as well. This is a nice tribute to a great musician who brought much joy to a lot of people through his harmonica playing. Thanks for sharing this. He really did put his heart and soul into his music when he played!

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I started playing harmonica because of him. The song that made me want to become a harp player was Garth Brooks’s song, “Ain’t Goin’ Down ('til the Sun Comes Up)”. Terry had a very bluesy style for a country harmonica player, but he knew what the song needed. In fact, Terry played with Garth on his Texas Stadium and Coast to Coast concerts. That guy knew how to make that harmonica sing the blues. It’s a shame he died so young.

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