Biography

Multi-instrumentalist Milan Miller may joke that he first moved to Nashville because he "heard they were running out of guitar players," but his time in the city revealed to him an independent music community that belies any pretense or cliché. With light speed picking and his trusty tenor voice, Miller became a first call sideman and collaborator.

Traveling the country, Miller has made appearances at venues ranging from Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater to Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California, and from the Grand Ole Opry to America's finest symphony halls. Along the miles traveled, Miller's songs have been recorded by some of the most popular names in bluegrass; including the Balsam Range staples "Caney Fork River" and "Papertown", "Pretty Little Girl From Galax" by Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, and Terry Baucom's award-winning "What'll I Do."

Poison Cove marks Miller's first solo release, an effort as rooted in his North Carolina upbringing as it is brimming with innovative twists and dark humor.

“Classic bluegrass songs are a hundred times more violent than Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden ever were,” says Miller with wry sincerity. “Dark and twisted just comes naturally to me… and to this record. Tales of tragedy and murder ballads were a big part of the musical culture where I grew up, but those kinds of stories transcend genre and city. That’s where the good stuff lies.”

In the case of Poison Cove, the “good stuff” is jam-packed into 12 tracks of toe-tapping heartbreak, death, and the occasional redemption. With musical themes harkening to singer-songwriters like Larry Cordle and Darrell Scott, it would be easy to file Miller in the category of troubadour.

“Troubadour? That’s nonsense,” laughs Miller dismissively. “All that any songwriter wants to do is make their stuff believable, to be genuine.”

With career successes ranging from Song of the Year nominations from the IBMA in 2012 and 2013, a feature in Guitar Player magazine, and a 2012 Multimedia Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians, it’s clear that Miller’s songs resonate far beyond the city limits and the packaged stereotypes of his adopted hometown.

“Poison Cove is really an attempt at presenting a completely original batch of material, while staying as close as possible to the template used by the first-generation masters.”

Infamous for his dismissal of anything remotely over-produced, Miller called upon a collective of some of the most talented pickers and singers in bluegrass to craft a mood within the tracks on Poison Cove that would ring true to bluegrass fans worldwide.

“If you’re not careful, arrangements can wreck a song,” he says. “It shouldn’t be about instruments fighting each other for attention one hot lick at a time. It really needs to be about telling a musical story… But I promise, this ain’t no pageant.”

Credits:
Milan Miller (Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin, Resonator Guitar); Tim Carter (Banjo); Shad Cobb (Fiddle); Charles Dixon (Violin, Viola); Randy Kohrs (Resonator Guitar); Ron Stewart (Fiddle); Seth Taylor (Banjo, Mandolin); Aaron Till (Fiddle); Scott Vestal (Banjo); Mark W. Winchester (Upright Bass); Mark Bumgarner (Harmony Vocals); Buddy Melton (Harmony Vocals); Darren Nicholson (Harmony Vocals)