Terry Balsamo (born October 8, 1972 in
Tampa, Florida), is an American guitarist. He is a member and guitarist of the Grammy Award winning rock band Evanescence and former guitarist of Alternative Metal band Cold.

    Biography

    Early projects

    Terry Balsamo made his start in the music world as an early member of Limp Bizkit. He left a few years before the recording of Bizkit’s debut album Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ (1997), being replaced by Wes Borland. In late 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.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. Terry said that it was a result of a blood clot in his neck that formed from headbanging on stage. Terry has partially 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.

    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[1]

    Band Projects

    • Limp Bizkit - Guitar (1994)
    • Shaft - Guitar (1996-1999)
    • Cold - Guitar (1999-2003)
    • Evanescence - Guitar (2003-present)

     Discography

    Cold

    • 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage (September 12, 2000)
    • Year of the Spider (May 13, 2003)

    Evanescence

    Main article: Evanescence discography

    • Anywhere but Home (November 23, 2004)
    • The Open Door (October 3, 2006)