Daily Discovery: Jesse Terry, "Stay Here With Me"

Videos by American Songwriter

BIRTHDATE: 1/1/79

HOMETOWN: Wilton, CT

CURRENT LOCATION: Perpetually on the road at the moment…storage unit in Nashville

AMBITIONS: To play beautiful theaters and rooms all over the world for the rest of my life.. To raise a large, happy family and travel with them all over the world.. To be a great dad and a great husband. To rescue more dogs, raise money for animal rescue and have at least four dogs at home. To open for Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, Dawes, Neil Young and Jackson Browne.

TURN-OFFS: arrogance, rudeness, bullies

TURN-ONS: Vinyl, surfing (or attempting to surf), vintage studio gear, rain storms, independent coffee shops, my guitars, ukeleles, bon-fires

DREAM GIG: Red Rocks & Newport Folk Festival

FAVORITE LYRIC: Joni Mitchell “Come In From The Cold” (or really any Joni Mitchell lyric)

“Back in 1957 we had to dance a foot apart

And they hawk-eyed us from the sidelines

Holding their rulers without a heart

And so with just a touch of our fingers

I could make our circuitry explode

All we ever wanted

Was just to come in from the cold”

CRAZIEST PERSON I KNOW: My wife. Because she not only left New Zealand, the most beautiful, magical place on earth to marry me in America; but also because she’s embarked on two tours/trips with me where we literally have no address. She loves the adventure just like me, but more than that, she believes in sticking together and she’s never let me down. She’s happy to eat peanut butter and jellies as long as we’re together and enjoying the journey. Now I think that’s beautiful but some people would call that crazy or naive. But truly, leaving New Zealand is crazy! I’ve been there twice and I sob when I have to get back on that plane.

SONG I WISH I WROTE: “God Only Knows” Beach Boys.. Best melody ever.

5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Neil Young, The Dalai Lama

MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: The Rolling Stones, Madison Square Garden – The best rock n roll band in the world in the greatest city. I’ll never forget hearing Keith hit that first chord and seeing the light shine on him, the telecaster swaying below his knees. I’m so into health and health food, but when I see Keith I just want to have fun and drink Jack Daniels all day… Of course I don’t… I write sensitive songs on my acoustic. But Keith Richards may be the coolest man on the planet. And the Stones have to be one of the most exciting and riveting shows I’ve ever seen.

I WROTE THIS SONG: “Stay Here With Me” was bouncing around for years, maybe three or four and I just couldn’t finish it. I loved the melody but the direction and the lyrics weren’t right. I was getting ready for the new album and playing tunes for my producer Neilson Hubbard and he freaked when he heard that. He brought it back from the dead, injected a lot of his life into it and it became the title track of the record. We finished it maybe two days before the band came in to start recording. I love that he fought for it and wanted it to be on the record so bad. He’s a brilliant writer, producer, mixer, friend and dude. I think the song is about that feeling of possibility. It squashes the notion that you can’t do something. It’s also a song about taking off with someone else, making your own luck, having no regrets and not looking back.