Terry Philip Balsamo II (born October 8, 1972) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is best known as the former guitarist of the American rock bands

Cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

and

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut ...

. Balsamo is noted for his onstage expression of his fondness for Michael Myers of the ''

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

'' film franchise.

Biography

Early projects and Cold

After a brief run with the early line-up of

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

in 1995, Balsamo joined fellow

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

rockers

Scooter Ward Scooter Ward (born Ronald Ward Jr. on May 7, 1970) is an American musician who is best known as a founding member and lead singer of the rock band Cold. He has also performed occasional guitar duties both in the studio and live. Ward has been ra ...

Sam McCandless Samuel Alan McCandless (born January 28, 1971) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and artist who is best known as a founding member of the American rock band Cold and the psychedelic blues band Carny. With McCandless, Cold has rele ...

Jeremy Marshall Cold is an American rock band, from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in 1986 by lead singer and rhythm guitarist Scooter Ward, drummer Sam McCandless, bassist Jeremy Marshall and lead guitarist Matt Loughran. The band has gone through numerous lin ...

and Kelly Hayes of the band

in 1999. Balsamo wrote and recorded with Cold for their albums ''

13 Ways to Bleed on Stage Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'' (2000) and ''

Year of the Spider ''Year of the Spider'' is the third studio album by American rock band Cold. It was released on May 13, 2003 through Geffen Records. The album was Cold's most commercially successful, debuting at number three on the ''Billboard'' album charts, ...

'' (2003). He also appeared alongside Staind in Staind's 2001

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

performance. Near the end of his stint with Cold, the band joined

as an opening act on the 2003

Nintendo Fusion Tour Nintendo Fusion Tour was a touring rock music and video game festival sponsored by Nintendo, which began in 2003. Nintendo's Fusion Tour provided early exposure for then-developing bands such as Evanescence, Story of the Year, My Chemical Ro ...

. Balsamo briefly re-joined Cold for their early 2009 reunion tour. According to a post on Cold's Facebook page on July 8, 2016, Balsamo was returning to the band for the recording of new music. However, he had departed the group again by January 2018, when Cold announced a new album with a new lineup.

Evanescence

When Evanescence guitarist

Ben Moody Benjamin Robert Moody II (born January 22, 1981) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as co-founder, former guitarist and co-songwriter of rock band Evanescence from its inception in 1995 to his departure in ...

left the band during the European tour of their debut album ''

Fallen Fallen may refer to: People * Carl Fredrik Fallén (1764–1830), Swedish botanist and entomologist * Gabriel Toledo (born 1991), known as FalleN, Brazilian ''Counter-Strike'' player Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Fallen ...

'' (2003), Balsamo replaced Moody as lead guitarist on stage. He later joined the band as a full-time member. Balsamo featured on Evanescence's 2004 concert CD/DVD ''

Anywhere but Home ''Anywhere but Home'' is the first live album and concert DVD release by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on November 23, 2004, by Wind-up Records. It includes a recording of a concert at Le Zénith in Paris, an hour of behind th ...

'', and became singer and pianist

Amy Lee Amy Lynn Hartzler (; born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, and lead songwriter of the rock band Evanescence. Alongside her contributions with the band, Lee has also particip ...

's musical collaborator for Evanescence's second album, ''

The Open Door ''The Open Door'' is the second studio album by American rock band Evanescence, released on September 25, 2006, by Wind-up Records. The record symbolizes a new beginning for the band, with Amy Lee in full creative control, incorporating new ele ...

'' (2006). Balsamo continued with Evanescence, playing and co-writing on their 2011 self-titled third album. In August 2015, it was announced on the band's Facebook page that Balsamo had parted ways with the band. He performed with the band again in 2019 for the song "

Sweet Sacrifice "Sweet Sacrifice" is a song by American rock band Evanescence from their second studio album, '' The Open Door''. It was released on May 25th, 2007 as the album's third single. The song was written by Amy Lee and Terry Balsamo, and produced by ...

Health issues

In October 2005, two days after having finished recording all of his guitar tracks for Evanescence's album ''The Open Door'', Balsamo suffered a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

from a torn neck artery, leaving the left side of his body paralyzed. The doctors showed him that it was caused by a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of cr ...

in his neck, possibly a result of headbanging on-stage and likely formation of an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ( ...

, allowing for pooling of static blood and a thrombus. His doctors did not think he would ever be able to play guitar again. Balsamo however was determined to overcome the paralysis, and began physical therapy and the process of re-training his hand to play.

Equipment

Guitars

* ''Ibanez LA Custom Shop'' * ''Ibanez RG3120 Prestige'' * ''Ibanez RG920'' * ''Ibanez RG 2570 VSL Prestige'' * ''Ibanez RG 2570 VSL Prestige Custom'' * ''Ibanez RG570'' * ''Ibanez RG1570 Prestige'' * ''Ibanez Acoustic'' * '' Takamine Acoustic'' * ''Larrivée Acoustic'' * ''Yamaha Silent/Travel Acoustic'' * ''

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...

Standard'' * ''Gibson Explorer 7 Strings (Studio)'' * ''Gibson Explorer Dethklok "Thunderhorse"'' * ''

Charvel Charvel is a brand of electric guitars founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and originally headquartered in Glendora, California. Since 2002, Charvel has been under the ownership of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. ...

Warren DeMartini Warren Justin DeMartini (born April 10, 1963) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist for glam metal band Ratt, which achieved international stardom in the 1980s. Early life DeMartini was born on April 10, 1963, in Chicago, ...

Signature San Dimas®, Maple Neck, Cross Swords'' * ''Charvel Warren DeMartini Signature San Dimas®, Maple Neck, Skulls'' * ''Charvel Custom Shop San Dimas'' * ''Charvel San Dimas® Style I HH (Snow White & Gray)'' * ''Charvel Desolation™ Skatecaster SK-1 FR'' * ''Charvel Desolation™ Skatecaster SK-1 ST'' * ''Charvel Desolation™ Skatecaster SK-3 ST'' * '' PRS SE Baritone

Mike Mushok Michael Mushok (born April 10, 1970) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist for the nu metal band Staind. He is a member of supergroup Saint Asonia and played in the band Newsted. Life and career Mushok was born in Ludlow, ...

Amplifiers

* ''

Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a ...

Triple Rectifier Solo Head (LIVE & STUDIO)'' * ''Mesa 4x12 Traditional Rectifier Cabs'' * ''Diezel VH4 Head (STUDIO)'' * ''Bogner Uberschall Head (STUDIO)'' * ''Line 6 4x12 Cabs (LIVE in 2004)''

Effects

* ''

TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pr ...

G-System'' * ''Furman PL-Pro C Power Conditioner'' * ''BOSS TU-2: Chromatic Tuner'' * ''BOSS NS-2: Noise Suppressor'' * ''Dunlop MC401 Boost/Line Driver'' * ''Dunlop Jimi Hendrix™ Signature Wah JH1D'' * ''BOSS Ph-2 Phaser'' or ''BOSS Ph-3 Phase Shifter''

Band projects

- guitar (2003–2015; 2019 tour performance) *

- guitar (1999–2004, 2009 tour only, 2016-2018) *Shaft - guitar (1996–1999) *

- guitar (1995)

Discography

Cold

*''

'' (September 12, 2000) *''

'' (May 13, 2003)

Evanescence

*''

'' (October 3, 2006) *''

'' (October 11, 2011)

References

External links

Evanescence
- Official Evanescence site {{DEFAULTSORT:Balsamo, Terry Evanescence members American heavy metal guitarists Songwriters from Florida Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida 1972 births Living people Musicians from Tampa, Florida Alternative metal guitarists Guitarists from Florida Alternative metal musicians