Terry Parks is a lifelong musician, pastor, and songwriter whose musical journey began in childhood and has spanned more than seven decades. Born one of nine children in rural Southwest Michigan, Terry sang his first solo in a kindergarten school musical and received his first instrument — a ukulele from an older brother — at age ten, which he used to accompany himself and others in church.
In high school, he played drums in the school band, taught himself guitar, and began performing publicly in folk groups and duets at school talent contests. His college years deepened that foundation: he traveled and sang widely with college choirs, music groups, and a male quartet founded by one of his brothers, a college music professor. He also studied radio broadcasting and worked at times as an engineer at a well-known professional Christian recording studio in the area.
Terry served as a youth pastor for six years, leading a traveling teen church choir, and later as a senior pastor for many years. During his pastoral ministry, he wrote songs and directed two full-length musicals performed in his community surrounding America’s bicentennial. For forty years he sang public duets with his wife, and together with their four children provided music in churches and other venues.
In 2024, Terry co-founded Heartfelt Media Group with his older son Dan, producing more than thirty original songs that span worship, country, R&B, and other genres — all in service of honoring God through music.
The Heartfelt Digital Ensemble (referred to as Heartfelt Digital Artistry or HDA on some releases) is the human-designed and guided use of artificial intelligence, along with other means of production and sometimes natural elements, to create high-quality, natural sounding and/or appearing media. That media is primarily human-sourced.
