Our continuing search for Loveland’s kindest, sweetest people and what they’re made of. What is our DNA match?

by Cassie Mattia,

Loveland, Ohio – Music is a big part of many people’s lives. Music can heal, bring happiness to a dreary day, explain a feeling you can’t quite put into words or share a story that every word is worth listening to. Richie Terbush, a Loveland resident, has felt this way since the age of 8 years old and now he says it’s time to share his musical journey with a community that’s always supported his love for music. Seems a DNA match to me.

Richie Terbush, a Southern California native, began dabbling in music at age 8 when his English Teacher, as well as a veteran guitar teacher, noticed he had talent.

“I studied from 8th grade until I was a senior in a program called GATE, which stood for Gifted And Talented Education,” Terbush said, “That’s where I learned how to play all types of guitar playing. Pop, classical, rock you name it I learned it.”

Once Terbush became quite the guitar player he began landing paid gigs in high school. After high school, Terbush continued to work on his craft and quickly made a name for himself in the Southern California club circuit.

“What really jump-started my career is when I got into 80’s cover bands. I would find cover bands and whichever band gave me a shot I would come to play for them,” Terbush explained, “I would literally have to go through auditions in order to get hired. It wasn’t easy!”

After Terbush began to consistently get opportunities to show off his guitar skills with other cover bands he decided that it was time to refocus and decide what path he wanted to take next.

“Every one of my peers, friends, and family said, ‘Richie if this is your dream and you can see it, you can do it,” Terbush said. “I had envisioned doing music since I was in the 8th grade. I didn’t get through college and barely got through high school, but at that time it didn’t matter because I knew music was going to be my career.”

Terbush decided to leave California and move to the Midwest where little did he know would be one of the best decisions he has ever made.

When Terbush arrived onto the Midwest scene he joined a band called The Rusty Griswolds who came onto the Cincinnati scene in 1999 and put on some of the best 80’s cover band performances locals had ever seen. Once Cincinnatians discovered The band and how undeniably entertaining they were the fan following took off!

“The Rusty Griswolds were a fun band that a lot of people associated with fun. We were honestly all good guys and we played all over, from Loveland to Cincinnati,” Terbush said. “We had a charity ball called the ‘Rusty Ball’ that we had done for many years at the Duke Energy Center and raised over a million dollars that went to over 150 charities. We did The Rusty Ball 9 years in a row,” said Terbush. The Rusty Griswolds were given the ultimate Cincinnati honor when they were handed the title, Best Part/Cover Band by the readers of Cincinnati’s City Beat Magazine from 2004 through 2014.

Terbush experienced many great venues as well as met so many wonderful fans throughout his 16 years performing with the Griswolds. Terbush remembered one night he was performing with them in Downtown Loveland when he realized that Loveland had quite a few Terbush supporters!

“I had been through Loveland a couple of times and I thought to myself that I would love to live here one day. I made the decision to move to Loveland 5 years ago when I was performing with the Rusty Griswolds in the Downtown Loveland area right across from Paxton’s,” Terbush recalled. “I remember our singer saying, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen Richie Terbush will be moving to Loveland here in the next couple weeks’ and the crowd went wild for me, which made me feel good! There had to have been 3,000 plus people watching us perform that night. This was one of the moments I realized, wow I get to do this for a living?”

After gaining such a huge fan base playing some really high profile events in Cincinnati with the Griswolds, other musicians started to notice Terbush’s talents. A few big-name musicians in Cincinnati had an idea for a band and wanted to include him. The story goes that, Guitarist Sean McGary was playing with the Naked Karate Girls, but he was also doing acoustic shows with vocalist Zach Albers. Albers had recently won the Cincinnati Idol contest, and McGary and Albers invited Richie to join them. This is how “3 Piece Revival” was born. Terbush says that at first, the whole “trio” band idea was a side project until their shows started to bring in thousands of people with their unique acoustic rock, pop, funk, disco, blues, soul, and reggae covers. 3 Piece Revival began to book festivals, weddings and major corporate events, one in which the band was flown to Quebec City, Canada. After the quick success with the “trio” Terbush made the decision that 3 Piece Revival was where he was meant to be and this is where his musical journey had led him.

Today Terbush is enjoying life as a full-time guitarist for 3 Piece Revival and can’t believe that he is living his dream.

“Here I am today and I have been making a living off music for 30 years now,” Terbush said, “All day long I am able to write new material and I practice all the time whether it’s with a new set list or old – just to stay fresh. I’m a classically trained guitar player so I am constantly trying to get better. I also write for other artists. That’s where my passion for music comes into play – I am always in practice. From age 8 to now there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t sat and practiced my guitar,” Terbush added.

Terbush is currently giving guitar lessons in Loveland out of his home as well as working on writing and recording some of his own material. 

Of course, Terbush couldn’t hide his excitement for a couple of up and coming events for 3 Piece Revival! “I did find out some exciting news the other day. We will be playing every Wednesday starting in May at Bishop’s Quarter, Terbush said. 

“We also just started writing our own material. No one has ever asked us to perform our own material because we are known as a cover band,” Terbush explained. “We have written nine great songs that we just need to get recorded. We plan on getting an album out and putting it on Spotify within the next 6 months. That’s really 3 Piece Revival’s next plan is to release our own music.”

Terbush foresees big accomplishments over the next 5 years with both 3 Piece Revival and his own personal projects.

“I see myself continuing with 3 Piece Revival and playing bigger and better shows. I also see us playing more private parties as well,” Terbush said. “I like playing at Jag’s in West Chester so I am excited to continue doing that venue once a month. They really love us there,” Terbush said. “Personally I see myself putting out another CD of my own. I also want to start a ukulele group in Loveland and of course, get more gigs here in town so that I can get more involved with the community. I would love to be part of the Christmas in Loveland this year and play some solo guitar Christmas carols.”

If you would like to learn more about Richie Terbush and 3 Piece Revival or you have an event coming up that you need some excellent entertainment for, you can visit 3 Piece Revival on FB or go to their website at 3piecerevival.com. Richie Terbush will also be continuing to give guitar lessons to anyone interested in learning acoustic, electric, or ukulele. Lessons can be given in person, over Skype or Facetime. For more information on Richie’s guitar lessons, text or call him at 937-477-5414.

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