Midway through an inductee-led performance at Oregon Music Hall of Fame’s 2025 ceremonies Saturday, October 11 at Aladdin Theater, Jim Brunberg had some words for Terry Currier.

Currier’s own words, to be precise.

Brunberg, co-founder of Mississippi Studios and Revolution Hall, was jamming on stage with fellow 2025 inductee Mary-Sue Tobin on saxophone when Brunberg introduced the impromptu band’s final song: “Terry’s Tune,” an instrumental from Paul Revere & the Raiders (“An Oregon band!” Brunberg excitedly called out about the Idaho band that relocated to Portland) from their 1972 EP Country Wine.

With the band laying down the beat, Brunberg added lyrics with a consistent refrain: “Terry Cur-ri-ER!” Terry Currier—Oregon Music Hall of Fame’s (OMHOF) board president, Music Millennium proprietor, Burnside Records founder, and anywhere-anytime advocate of music in the state—emerged from backstage as Brunberg called him out. The band stopped playing. Brunberg handed Currier a piece of paper and asked him to read it aloud.

It was a voice message Currier had left Brunberg in 1993. “You don’t know me, but I own a record store,” Currier read aloud. “Peter Buck from R.E.M. just came in and bought your record!”

Currier turned and walked offstage, not waiting to see anybody’s reaction.

Consider the moment a chance to shine for Currier. Saturday’s induction ceremony reflected his emotional investment in cultivating an organization dedicated to advocating for the preservation of Oregon’s music history while simultaneously nurturing its future.  He’s been at it—selling, promoting, organizing, advocating—for five decades now. Dedicated volunteers and OMHOF’s board of directors bolster the effort.

The OMHOF ceremony began not with a performance, or an award, but with the “In Memoriam” slideshow honoring the departed of Oregon’s music communities who passed during the last year. Currier never took his eyes off the projection.

Backstage, before the show began, Currier reminisced about attending the memorial service for Larry Norman, a 2025 inductee. Norman, a Christian rock singer-songwriter once hailed as “probably the top solo artist in the field” by Time Magazine, died in 2008 at the age of 60 at his home in Salem. Norman’s longtime drummer Jason Carter accepted the award on behalf of his family in the first recognition of the evening.

Music luminaries must have a 20-year career in their vocation before garnering consideration for OMHOF. Though the induction committee has made exceptions, notably for late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith.

“The class is pretty diversified,” Currier told the Mercury. “Gary Hobbs [has an] over-50-year career as a jazz drummer. Todd Jenson, he’s been playing in bands since the 1970s.” (Jenson has been playing bass in Journey since 2021.) “Mary-Sue Tobin, she’s not known around the United States, but she’s such a vital part of [Portland’s] music [communities].”

Currier and OMHOF director of music programs and scholarships Jeanne Rundell offered updates throughout the night on the organization’s educational mission. Rundell proudly held up a $388,000 cardboard check made out to Oregon Public Schools, specific to music programming. Marc Baker of EPB&B Insurance added a giant cardboard check of his own, announcing a $10,000 donation from the Goose Hollow-based agency to OMHOF.

Currier also announced a $3,500 scholarship in honor of the late Billy Hagen for incoming college freshman pursuing music education. OMHOF will present seven scholarships to Class of 2026 high school graduates, up from five in 2025. 

“The scholarship program is statewide. We haven’t had that many people from Portland actually get scholarships,” Currier noted. “We’ve had heartfelt stories where people really need this to get to college.”

Memorabilia heads rejoiced in the presence of seven signed guitars. Guitars from Devo, The Zombies, Iggy Pop, Indigo Girls, Pixies, Paul Stanley, and Jimmy Page. “Jimmy Page never signs guitars!” Currier told the audience. But this one was legit. Currier and master of ceremonies Tony Starlight raffled off one guitar, auctioning off the other six. More money for scholarships, more good reverberations around the Aladdin Theater.

Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel, the Beaverton-raised duo making up indie-rock band The Helio Sequence, shouted out the “true Hall of Famers”—their band teachers—during their induction speech. 

“At the root of it, both Benjamin and I are, and were, band dorks,” Summers remarked to laughter and cheers. “He was kind of the cool, like, snare captain. The drummers are cooler than everybody, eternally. I was the one boy player in the flute section.”

Americana artist Pete Droge, the last performer of the evening, told the audience the story of the woman who adopted him, an elementary school music teacher, and the memories shared by former students after her passing. Droge performed his single “You Called Me Kid”—released days after his mother’s passing.

Portugal. The Man members John Gourley and Zoe Manville accepted the band’s induction. Manville spoke about the impact of music education continues to have on their daughter, Frances, whose fight with the neurodegenerative disorder DHDDS has inspired some of the band’s philanthropic efforts. “[Frances] cannot live without music,” Manville said. “Everything we do is for her.”

“Inspiring more kids to pursue an instrument, singing, or engineering—we need to support these programs now more than ever,” Manville added.

“I’ve been interacting with [Portugal. The Man] a long, long time,” Currier told the Mercury backstage. “They used to have a band house six blocks from [Music Millennium] when they first came to Portland.

“They care about a whole bunch of community issues. They’re really into causes and making things happen. Usually, when bands get that big, they don’t stay really rooted in their communities.”