17 March 2001
Scott Miller
My merry little crew caught a couple of bands at Rudyard's last night. The warmup band was okay and had its moments. But we were there to take in Scott Miller (the second band of four). Miller used to be with a band called the V-Roys that my friend Dave turned me onto, sort of a Nashville No Depression/Americana/Roots Rock outfit that Steve Earle took a liking to. Last year, the V-Roys disbanded because various members wanted to do their own things. Scott Miller, their old frontman who plays guitar and harmonica in addition to singing and writing songs, is now out on his own, with a band called the Commonwealth and a CD to be released in June 2001 on the Sugar Hill Records label (which has put out albums for Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Chris Hillman, and Robert Earl Keen, to name a few).
I had heard that the V-Roys (much like Reckless Kelly) used to put on a live show that just blew away their studio stuff. If their former frontman is any indication, that last is an understatement! Musically, Miller and his band have put in some hard work, and it shows in their crisp, tight, rocking sound. Throw in some nice songwriting and pleasant vocals, and we have a winner. Plus Miller is a showman (probably one area in which Nashville trumps Austin). He acts like a little bit of a smartass on stage (better than a dumbass, no?), but he has fun with the crowd and really got us into the show. My favorite moment came when some loud a-holes were talking (damn near screaming) in the back of the bar near the pool tables. Scott stepped back from the mike a bit while staring them down, kept on singing quietly, and slowly but steadily flipped them the bird for about 30 seconds. It was hilarious! We weren't 100% positive that he actually had directed it their way (we thought it might have been part of the song), so I asked him afterwards if he was sending them a message. His answer: "Of course I was. I couldn't let 'em get away with that shit." I shook his hand, bought his older acoustic cd (check out how he signed it -- I asked him to write a little something about Texas since he had made some funny comment earlier about the state), and told him good job.
I don't do this often, but I'm going to backtrack a little. If this is the future of Nashville, it won't need Reckless Kelly, the Groobees, and the rest of the Texas crowd to save it. It HAS a future that isn't Shania and the pop-synth-hat crowd who have relegated country music to #3 these days. Miller plans on returning to Houston when the CD is released in June, and I'm looking forward to it.
[Posted @ 09:41 AM CST]
COMMENTS
About Scott Miller... oh, YEAH, did he kick some ass, both solo acoustic, and with the Commonwealth. I'd gladly travel 250 miles to see that dude and the band perform again. Having played piano and sung for some years, I was most struck by the precision with which they played, very sharp, very clean, very _deliberate_ use of musical technique to bring their songs to life. Some bands I've had the pleasure of seeing recently have blown me away with the passion and intensity of their playing -- an outstanding and _necessary_ thing, to be sure, and these guys last night had a pretty good share of that -- but this group reminded me of what sheer _skill_, on top of a certain amount of talent and energy, can do. Add to that a number of excellent original songs, and particularly good showmanship, as Kev had mentioned, and it was a hell of an evening. I went up after the show to buy the CD and shake the dude's hand, and I wish I could have found the words at the time to express how much I enjoyed their playing. Awesome.
[Posted by Camille on 18 March 2001, 10:26 PM CST]
Hey,
Mr. Miller's recorded a great one called "Thus Always to Tyrants", release date June 12.
Come get it!
Scotch
[Posted by Scotch on 9 June 2001, 10:22 AM CST]
