Terry Wayne Conder

I grew up in a small town called Baxter Springs, Kansas. I was surrounded by music from birth. My father, uncles, and many of my cousins are working musicians. Many of my deepest and longest running friendships have been built around music.

I began writing at a young age. I've always struggled with social anxiety, and was never terribly good at expressing myself. I have battled severe depression for as long as I can remember, and the written word soon became my only real means to communicate.

I began playing guitar mostly to be able to do something with the things I wrote, and wrote my first song at the age of 15. Since then, music has become much more than a means of communication and expression.

Music has been the glue that held me together. It's been the beam that stabilized me. It's been the thread that kept me from falling.

Music has mostly been my way of turning my not-so-pretty story into something good and positive and hopefully beautiful.

Most importantly to me, music has been my way of reaching out to those who have felt as hopeless as I have. My way of standing in solidarity. My way of telling those who fight the same battles that I do that not only are they not alone, but they are capable.

I want to turn the light at the end of my tunnel into a light for others who feel stranded in the dark.

My songs often speak of hardship and loss. I mostly personify my feelings. I give them faces and names. I sing to them like they are characters in my life. Sometimes I fight them. Sometimes I love them. Sometimes they scare me... but they never defeat me.

That is the story that I want my music to tell.

A story of triumph.