Biography

With a combined 36 years of fulltime or mostly fulltime performance, Bernard and Miller bring a wealth of experience and flair to the table. Together they perform original and traditional music and song with a unique and often fluid style, ranging from the solid tradition of Irish music to the grace and open interpretations of the Cantigas de Santa Maria, and all the way through jazz and folk to the back-beat of early swing. Bringing such a wide variety of flavors and themes to the table, Bernard and Miller refer to this delicious concoction as 'Music Soup'; just plain good for the soul!

The Artists:
Billy Miller is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and artisan living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Floyd, Virginia. Billy has played music and recorded with many nationally and internationally recognized artsts, including members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers (jazz and swing), the David Grisman Quintet, Andrew Bird (folk/jazz), Charlie Rafferty (Celtic), Billy Jonas (contemporary folk), Solazo (Latin Afro-Cuban), Archetribe (world), and American Dumpster (junkyard folk rock).

Misti Sorenne Bernard has been performing world music since 1992. She sings in six languages ranging from Spanish to Urdu, with regular forays into scat and improvisational melody and lyric lines. Misti also plays silver and bamboo flutes, pennywhistle, Irish flute, bodhran, hammer dulcimer and guitar. She is a founding member of Blue Muse Trio, which combines 13th Century Spanish and Portuguese devotional songs with jazz, Middle Eastern and world music. She also co-founded the Irish and world groups Brollywacker and Old Soles. Misti has performed and recorded with master hammer dulcimer player Jem Moore, Irish flute player Grey Larsen, The Gerald Trimble Ensemble, free jazz drone ensemble PoOg, and is a session musician for various Sufi ensembles across the country. While Misti considers herself to be a musical autodidact, she feels herself privileged to have studied Indian classical music for voice with Ali Akbar Khan at his College of Music in San Rafael, California.