Terry Sylvester
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John Ford Coley website >>

Fran Cosmo
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Acoustically Speaking

In September, three rock and roll legends will grace the stage in Duncan in an intimate all-acoustic set, showing a side of these rockers that most people have never seen before.

Terry Sylvester

Terry Sylvester was born Jan. 8, 1947 in Liverpool, England and grew up in the Allerton area near the home of Paul and Michael McCartney. His father James, a jazz trombone player, introduced him to music at an early age.

Sylvester left school just before his 15th birthday and while beginning to focus on music, he worked for a year as an apprentice panel beater for Peter Harrison, George Harrison's older brother. At 16, Terry turned pro and was sharing the stage with the Beatles regularly in and around Liverpool and at the world famous Cavern Club, fronting his own group the Escorts.

In 1966, Terry joined the Swinging Blues Jeans, who went on to have a number of hit records in England and the U.S., including "Hippy Hippy Shake," "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "You're No Good." In December 1968, Graham Nash left The Hollies to form Crosby, Stills & Nash. The remaining members of The Hollies contacted Terry, and the rest - as they say - is history.

And it's history that has continued, as Sylvester and other members of The Hollies were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2010.

During Terry's years with The Hollies, the group produced huge hits on both sides of the Atlantic: The classic international hit "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," with the then unknown session man Elton John playing piano; "I Can't Tell The Bottom From The Top"; "Long Cool Woman, In A Black Dress," which was a No. 1 song in the U.S.; "Long Dark Road"; and the 1974 universal classic love song, "The Air That I Breathe."

Terry also wrote songs for himself and released a solo album. He worked with Alan Parsons on the Alan Parson Project's debut album, "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," and in 1981 Terry wrote, recorded, and produced an album with Oscar-winning songwriter and Bread member James Griffin.

Continuing to be active into the 21st century, Terry has been awarded five platinum, nine gold and six silver records so far in his career.

In his spare time he enjoys reading books on the history of the Native American Indian, collecting Georgian silver & Dinky toys, watching baseball, holidaying in Central America & the Caribbean, and of course keeping in touch with his beloved Liverpool Football Club. He keeps fit by taking long walks on the beach, playing golf, swimming, & playing tennis.

Fran Cosmo

In 1984, a young rock vocalist and guitarist named Fran Cosmo joined forces with Barry Goudreau, who was guitarist for a group that had become one of the cornerstones of the American classic rock genre - Boston. Not only was their partnership a major step in Cosmo's evolution as a rock 'n' roll singer, it led to the formation of the group Orion the Hunter.

In 1985, Orion the Hunter produced their self-titled album and the song, "So You Ran," written by Fran and Goudreau, became a hit. It was an instant AOR radio hit and a popular video on a fledgling television network called MTV. "Friday Night Videos" and various other music video programs that gave the song nationwide airplay.

Orion the Hunter joined Aerosmith for its Back in the Saddle Tour, but the group eventually split up. Fran and guitarist Michael Schenker, who also had roots with Boston, spent seven months attempting to put together a new band, but due to other obligations that project was abandoned after seven months.

Cosmo's next evolutionary step came in 1991, when Tom Scholz, the mastermind behind Boston, was ready to begin recording the group's fourth album, "Walk On." Boston vocalist Brad Delp was busy with his side project RTZ, so Cosmo accepted an invitation to become the new lead vocalist for Boston, and his work was extensive on "Walk On."

Delp returned to the group to begin a tour, which led to Fran and Brad singing side by side, sharing vocal duties on two Boston albums and international tours. Fran sang on Boston's "Corporate America" album and helped produce three of the songs on that CD. At that point, Fran's brother, Anthony Cosmo, joined Boston for tours in 2003 and 2004. But following the release of "Corporate America" in 2002, a tour in 2004 and the release of Boston's "Greatest Hits" album, on which Fran sang on three songs, Boston disbanded, and in 2007, Delp died.

Following the 2004 tour, Cosmo went to work putting together a new band, which included his brother, Anthony. The pairing eventually led to the worldwide release of the Fran Cosmo Band album "Alien" on Frontiers Records in 2006. Since then, Fran has continued to work with the Fran Cosmo Band and in a reincarnation of Boston, and to tour with other artists in ensembles like Acoustically Speaking.

John Ford Coley

There are songs you hear in life that transport you to a certain time period or give you a special feeling. You associate those good times to the group that made them famous. Songs like "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight," "Nights Are Forever Without You," "Gone Too Far," "We'll Never Have To Say Good-bye Again" and "Love Is The Answer" have that kind of effect on people, and those songs and others have made John Ford Coley a singing legend.

John has spent decades touring, writing, recording and producing, and is most revered as half of the Grammy-nominated duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, which was one of the world's biggest-selling acts from 1971 to 1980.

Coley has continued to keep an active presence in music, performing the songs by the duo and developing as a solo artist. Classically trained on piano and an avid guitarist, John loves the craft and enjoys performing live. He's also produced many other artists, most recently co-producing several sides on Eddie Money's newest album. Vince Gill joined John in adding vocals to that album, which gave the CD a country feel.

Coley has also produced albums by country artists Tom Wurth and Lynn Bryant. Of late, John recorded a live album while on tour in the Philippines, which includes many of the hit songs he had with former high school classmate Seals, who died in 2009. It's available on the Internet and at concerts. In addition to teaming with Terry Sylvester and Fran Cosmo for the Acoustically Speaking tour, John's also been in the studio, recording new material for an acoustic album.

Coley has also branched into television and acting. He's appeared on many late-night and daytime talk shows, "Prime Time Country" and Trinity Broadcasting Network, and has also written or performed theme songs for TV and movies.

In the mid-1980s, John entered acting, performing in "Dream A Little Dream," "Scenes From the Gold Mine" and "Aces and Eights."

Coley's experiences stem from a broad background, and he's very eclectic in his interests. Although he performed throughout high school and college as a classical and rock pianist, he chose to major in English literature in his university studies and is an avid student of history.

In between the extensive touring, John lives in Nashville with his family, where he's penned a book on his years in the music industry entitled "Backstage Pass." He is in the process of writing a book about his spiritual journey back from another religion to Christianity, and also speaks in churches about his experiences.

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