TerryCurrier Day declared by Mayor

By Brian Cutean

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s Proclamation designates August 12, 2017 as “Terry Currier Day” throughout the City. The Proclamation states: “Terry Currier, owner of Portland, Oregon’s long-serving, independent and iconic Music Millennium record store for over thirty years has provided tireless, unrivaled support and assistance to all facets of the renowned and well-established Portland music community, including musicians, venues and events.”

Currier’s list of accomplishments is a long one. He began in 1972 as a clerk then buyer then district manager for DJ’s Sound City in the Northwest and Hawaii. He joined the Music Millennium staff in 1984 as a manager and bought the business in 1996.

Currier ran Burnside Records and co-founded Burnside Distribution, a company that has helped thousands of musicians nationwide to reach a broader public. He has served on the boards of Cascade Blues Association, Portland Jazz Festival, the Grammy’s Pacific Northwest Chapter of NARAS, Coalition of Independent Music Stores and he co-founded the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2003.

“It’s a little surreal to have your own day in the City of Portland,” Currier says. “I’ve been lucky to be able to do something I love. There is a fine line between my work life and the rest of my life because music propels me to do almost everything I do. To have been able to be part of the Oregon music community for 45 years this coming September has been the greatest thing I could have fell into.

“I did not listen to recorded music growing up. I spent most of my time preparing to go to college playing music as well as exploring the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. Then, just months before my 17th birthday, I traded in my motorcycle for a car and started listening to the radio. KISN and KVAN with Bob Anchetta and Gloria Johnson. The week after I turned 17, I went to my first concert, Leon Russell & the Shelter People. Two weeks later I applied for a job in a record store and here I am today.

“This is a great honor. I’ve been fortunate to be able to be part of the Portland Music Community for nearly 45 years. We have an incredible music scene here full of incredible local artists, clubs and venues and events. It’s been a pleasure to be part of it all, supporting and enhancing it. This would not be possible without all the people in the city that support the artists and their music, the live venues and events and the social causes in the city.”

The original true music believer, collector and encourager has supported all genres of music for 40 years and brought the phrase “Keep Portland Weird” to Oregon. Last month the national Music Business Association presented its Independent Spirit Award to Currier in Nashville.

How will Currier spend the day that is honoring him?

“On that day,” Currier mused, “I’ll be in the back parking lot of Music Millennium for our 25th Annual Customer Appreciation BBQ with seven local bands performing. Hope to see some of you there.”

Terry Currier owner of Music Millennium

Music Millennium’s Customer Appreciation BBQ goes from 11 am to 6 pm and features live food and free live music. This year’s lineup includes Redwood Son, Cedar Teeth, Steve Barton, Balto, Greg Georgeson, Monterey Purple,and at 6 pm to close the day, the one and only Reverb Brothers.

As the City honors Currier, he and the store once again honor the public who make Millennium’s continuance possible. Visit the store at 3158 SE Burnside and tell Terry thanks for all the ways Millennium has helped to make this community weird and immeasurably better.

TerryCurrier Day declared by Mayor

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