Terry Balsamo

Terry Balsamo (born October 8, 1973 in Tampa, Florida), is an American guitarist. He is a member and guitarist of the Grammy Award winning alternative metal band Evanescence and former guitarist of alternative metal band Cold.

Early projects

After a quick run with the early line-up of limp bizkit in 95 & 96,later in 1999, Terry joined up with fellow Jacksonville rockers Scooter Ward, Sam McCandless, Jeremy Marshall and Kelly Hayes, otherwise known as Cold.

Evanescence


Terry remained with Cold writing and recording with them for their albums 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage (2000) and Year of the Spider (2003). Terry also appeared alongside Staind, in Staind's MTV Unplugged performance in 2001. Near the end of his stint with Cold, the band joined Evanescence as an opening act on the 2003 Nintendo Fusion Tour.
When Evanescence's guitarist Ben Moody left the band during their European tour, Terry filled in for Moody on stage. When Cold's future suddenly became questionable, Terry jumped ship signing on permanently with Evanescence. He has also become a songwriter with Amy Lee.
Terry can most prominently be seen and heard in Evanescence's live album, Anywhere but Home (2004) and now on the band's new album The Open Door (2006). He has become Amy Lee's main collaborator for Evanescence and co-wrote most of Evanescence's new album including the album's first single, "Call Me When You're Sober", and third single "Sweet Sacrifice". In November 2005, Terry suffered a stroke from a torn neck artery which landed him in the hospital for an unspecified amount of time. doctor's said that it was a result of a blood clot in his neck that formed from headbanging on stage. Terry has recovered and is touring with the band. As a result from his injury he now uses his "dreadlocks" as a stage act by shaking them and bringing them forward while standing still to not create too much movement causing more problems.

Health issues


In 2005, Terry Balsamo, Evanescence guitarist, received a stroke from headbanging.

Equipment

“	I use Ibanez guitars. In the studio, I kind of use a similar setup to what I used on the last Cold record I did, which is mix up the amps and combine the sound together. It’s a Diezel and a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and mixed that for one side. Then I took a Bogner and a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier on the other side. I combined it and made one big wall of metal! Right now on tour I’m using T.C. Electronics, the G-System.	”
—Terry Balsamo, Ultimate-Guitar.com

Band Projects

• Shaft - Guitar (1996-1999)
  
• Cold - Guitar (1999-2003)
  
• Evanescence - Guitar (2003-present)