Some info about Terry Bradford

July 11, 2005 at 06:00 PM

From Hollywood to the Wine Country, Terry Bradford shares his musical mastery
Monday, July 11, 2005

By ANNA ABBOTT
Register Correspondent

http://www.napanews.com/photos/050710terrybradfordlg.jpg

Terry Bradford has sung with the stars. He was a backup singer for Elton John and Lionel Richie, sang behind Celine Dion on two huge-selling albums and recorded with Ricky Martin on "A Medio Vivir." He performed on the soundtrack for such movies as "The Lion King", "The Power of One" and "Amistad."

Now -- even while he shuttles from Napa to Los Angeles recording studios, where he continues his professional career -- he is the music director for the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living.

The center is housed in a small, adobe-colored building tucked into a quiet corner of downtown Napa, with walls painted in soft pinks and blues in a room adorned simply with orchids and illuminated with wrought-iron chandeliers. The church's mission is to be "an inclusive community fostering individual and collective spiritual awareness," according to the center's literature.

It is a so-called "New Thought" church, a movement whose members believe the power of thought can transform reality.

Bradford, a round-faced and affable man with silvery rings on his fingers, was there leading the choir in song Sunday, just as he has for many recent Sundays. Back on Mother's Day morning, Bradford played piano and energetically led the choir in several songs, including "I Am the Light of the World" and "I Am One with the Heart of the Mother."

"My plan for (the choir) is to have a place where everybody can create music and joy for themselves and others," said Bradford. "It's about experience rather than performance."

Bradford said music has been an important aspect of his life since he was 3. He directed church choirs as a nine-year-old. He has served as musical director at Baptist and Seventh-Day Adventist churches. Before he started backing pop performers, he sang on "Praise the Lord," the TV program of the evangelists Jimmy and Tammy Faye Bakker.

"I'm not a religious person," Bradford said. "I'm a spiritual person. I don't belong to a particular religion. I ascribe to the basic premise of all religions: We're all part of something enormous and wonderful."

Bradford came to Napa Valley and the Center for Spiritual Living through Rev. Janet Garvey-Stangvik.

Garvey-Stangvik said she first met Bradford at a United Church of Religious Science conference a few years ago. Then he came by the center for a visit.

"He sang at our church," said Garvey-Stanvik. "The time was right; he was in the Bay Area, and we had an opening (for musical director)."

Now, Bradford leads the music during services every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Bradford said he does not see a difference between the evangelical praise music he sang with the Bakkers and the songs he leads now for the Center for Spiritual Living. "There's a difference in language, but what we accomplish is the same. It's about loving everyone and mutual respect."

While Bradford is still in Los Angeles regularly, he said Napa "seems to be a very vibrant place. It's a wonderful place to come and know yourself. . . . People tend to look at themselves like the 'Man in the Mirror' song by Michael Jackson. The Napa Valley is about making the world a better place; we might not be there yet."