Birth name:Terri Lynne Sauson
Birth date:Aug. 5, 1968
Birthplace:Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Raised:Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Hair:brown
Eyes:hazel
Height:5 feet 11 inches
Tattoo:In 2001, Terri had the maple leaf from the Canadian flag tattooed onto her right shoulder.
Parents:mother Linda and stepfather Peter Clark; father Lester Sauson. “My mom played guitar. Instead of reading me bedtime stories she would sit on the edge of my bed and sing ‘Daddy Frank,’ ‘The Long Black Veil’ and ‘Brand New Key.’ When I was 9, I picked up the guitar myself. She showed me my first three chords and it was all over. I just kept going.”
Siblings:brother Peter; sisters Kim and Tina
Marital status:married to tour manager, Greg Kaczor on September 17, 2005.
Deep are the roots:Terri’s maternal grandparents, Ray and Betty Gauthier, were performers on the Canadian country music circuit and opened shows for Johnny Cash, George Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens and others. “They retired from performing before I was born,” she recalls, “but I used to go over to these jam sessions at their house. They’d sing and play guitar with all their musical friends, and I’d just watch for hours.”
Musical influences:Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, The Judds
Previous jobs:dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant, waitress, secretary at a carpet-cleaning company, boot seller and house singer at Nashville’s legendary Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge.
Early days in Nashville:“I was a little chunky back then,” says Terri, who moved to Music City in 1987. “I had bigger hair and used to wear these long untucked shirts with pants and cowboy boots. I would tuck my pants into my cowboy boots and wear a scarf like Patsy Cline. I used to traipse from the bus stop to Tootsie’s Lounge with my guitar wrapped around my wrist with a shoestring to keep someone from stealing it. That was me.”
Favorite albums:Surfacing by Sarah McLachlan, Happy? by Jann Arden, Why Not Me by The Judds, Absolute Torch And Twang by k.d. lang, Yourself Or Someone Like You by matchbox twenty
Favorite movie:Shrek
Favorite actor:Matthew McConaughey
Favorite TV show:Six Feet Under
Favorite foods:Pizza Hut pan pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and cheese; prime rib; french fries and gravy; chocolate-covered almonds
Her take on life:“I generally like to have fun. I always laugh at myself. We’re human beings; we’re funny. God had a sense of humor, that’s why he created us.”
Gold album:How I Feel (1998)
Platinum albums:Terri Clark (1995), Just The Same (1996)
Billboard Top 10 singles:“Better Things To Do” (No. 3, 1995), “When Boy Meets Girl” (No. 3, 1996), “If I Were You” (No. 8, 1996), “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” (No. 5, 1996), “Emotional Girl” (No. 10, 1997), “Now That I Found You” (No. 2, 1998), “You’re Easy On The Eyes” (No. 1, 1998), "I Just Wanna Be Mad" (No. 2, 2003), "Girls Lie Too" (No. 1, 2004) "I Wanna Do It All" (No. 3, 2004)