When young Thelma was given the opportunity to receive musical training with the instrument of her choice, she chose to study string bass.

After graduating from Austin Union High School, she earned first chair in the Chicago Women's Symphony Orchestra.

MCA billed Terry as "The Beautiful Blonde Siren of Syncopation", "The Jazz Princess", and "The Female Paul Whiteman".

[1] But by that time she had met Willie Haar, the owner of a Savannah, Georgia resort at which the band played during their 1929 tour.

[citation needed] In the 1950s, she moved back to her native Michigan, where she met with Gene Krupa, the drummer for the Playboys.

[citation needed] Terry recorded six songs: four in Chicago (plus an additional take of "Lady of Havana") with Gene Krupa on drums, and two in New York City, all in 1928.