Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio Terry Lee had spent his early years creating radio shows on an old reel to reel in the basement. "My musical influences were Hank Sr., Little Richard, Bill Haley, Eddie Cochran, and I didn't even know who these guys were I just would hear my Dad singing their songs driving somewhere in the old '64 Ford. I saw the Beatles come to our country and man was grandpa having a fit!" At 10 years old Terry vividly remembers watching his first guitar that a neighbor gave him go in the family pool and never had another one until he bought one at age 17.
Terry spent his summers with his grandparents and they had a piano. He would sit for hours and figure out melodies of old standard songs and create his own music at age 12. "My cousin was listening to the likes of James Gang, Jimmy, Janice, Canned Heat, and had a Gibson like Alvin Lee that I would play for hours". Ever since his earliest days he was fascinated by great guitarist. In 1977 he started learning guitar from Duane and Dave Salyer. They are nephews of bluegrass greats, Jim And Jesse McReynolds and The Virginia Boys. "My Rock World crashed directly into Blue Grass Music" even though Dave played everything from Aerosmith to Zeppelin. It was about hot flat picking, cross picking and double pickin'.