Five Questions With R&B Singer Tony Terry
As Black Music Month comes to a close, you can’t mention some of the greatest R&B love songs without mentioning R&B crooner Tony Terry’s wedding anthem hit “(When I’m) With You.” The North Carolina born singer topped the charts in the late 1980’s and early 90’s with hits that are still being played today. After a brief hiatus, the soulful singer is back with a new single called “Dance For Hours” off his forthcoming album slated to be released later this year. With the new release, Terry is reminding listeners that he has more in his repertoire than just ballads. Tony Terry is more than just a singer, he’s also an actor that draws from his theatrical background as a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts to flex his acting chops on stages across the country.
News producer Shameika Rhymes chatted with singer-actor Tony Terry to ask five questions about his ties to North Carolina, his new music, and upcoming projects.
Shameika Rhymes: A little known fact about you is that most don’t realize you have ties to North Carolina. Talk about that.
Tony Terry: Yes, I’m from Pinehurst North Carolina. I was born there. I get back there as much as I can, my family is still there, working as Chief of Police, the Mayor, and more so we’re representing there as much as we can.
Shameika Rhymes: You also linked up with another North Carolina native, Roberta Flack, and went on tour with her for six years. What was that experience like? How was it life-changing?
Tony Terry: I was in a 7th grade talent show and I sang her single “The Closer I Get to You” with a girl I was in school with and won. Moving forward a few years, I get a phone call from Roberta Flack asking me to do a tour with her, I didn’t know her music well enough to perform it, but I knew of the music. So I was actually a last minute replacement because one of the guys got sick and couldn’t go, so they called me to go to Japan. I loved the music, I loved the show. It was a six year working relationship, we went to some exotic locations around the world and we had some command performances, so it was just amazing. I stopped touring with her, while I was having a wonderful time with her, it was time for me to focus on me and my own music. I was so busy with the tour, I just didn’t have time, so I quit the tour and got back to doing my own thing.
Shameika Rhymes: That’s amazing. Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about your new music. You just released a new single called “Dance for Hours.” It’s a different vibe from what listeners are used to hearing from you. Talk about how you ended up with this song.
Tony Terry: Well, I’ve been working on my new project for about 2 or 3 years, and during that time I’ve recorded hundreds of songs, literally. Dance for Hours is a song that came to me while I was working out with a friend of mine. I knew he was a singer and songwriter but we never worked together but we worked out together quiet often. He played the song for me and I was just wrapping up a project, so this was one of the last songs that I recorded and ended up being the first song on the album. The single is available everywhere I-tunes, Google Play, basically it’s everywhere you digitally download. We are kicking off the album release on July 3rd in Atlanta, Georgia at the Museum Bar.
Shameika Rhymes: What can listeners expect to hear on the new album?
Tony Terry: It’s a mixture of music that goes from rock to R&B ballads, the kind of stuff that I like to sing. When “With You” came out it kind of overshadowed anything that I had done prior to that so people really forgot that I had done several dance records. So people expect to hear a ballad from me because of “With You” and forget about all the up-tempo songs that I’ve done. So on this album, I really just mixed it up and did everything from rock to R&B. I’m super excited about the album, it’s smoking hot. I had a long time to put it together and I can’t wait to hear what people have to say about it good or bad, but hopefully it will be good!
Shameika Rhymes: You have been staying busy acting as well, so are there any new projects that you have coming up?
Tony Terry: I was recently cast as the lead in the Broadway bound musical Carwash: The Norman Whitfield story. If you remember the movie Car Wash, it’s being taken to the Broadway stage. I’m just blessed to be cast in the lead role in that production. Also, I am working on a television series called Immortals: Atlanta. We are expected to start shooting that in August, so I have a few things coming up.
Make sure you follow Tony Terry on Twitter @MrTonyTerry for updates!