Biography
Known as a versatile figure in roots music, Buddy Miller has built his reputation across guitar, vocals, songwriting, and production, teaming with a wide range of performers while also assembling his own respected catalog of recordings. His guitar approach emphasizes atmosphere and tonal depth over flashy displays of skill, and his compositions reveal personal perspectives on varied aspects of life. Production duties see him crafting an unadorned yet flattering sonic environment for the performers involved. The 1997 release Poison Love blended traditional country elements with contemporary singer-songwriter sensibilities, whereas the 2001 project Buddy & Julie Miller, marking the initial joint effort with his spouse and artistic collaborator, allowed his slightly gritty vocal texture to intertwine with her elevated and distinctive timbre. The 2004 album Universal United House of Prayer combined blues, rock, and country inflections with gospel fervor, and The Majestic Silver Strings from 2011 extended the limits of country guitar through partnerships with Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, and Marc Ribot. Production and session work occupied much of his schedule throughout the 2010s, yet he still managed joint recordings with Jim Lauderdale on the 2012 set Buddy & Jim and with Julie Miller on 2019’s Breakdown on 20th Ave. South.
Steven Paul Miller entered the world on September 6, 1952, in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton. He passed the bulk of his early years in Princeton, New Jersey, acquiring the nickname “Buddy” courtesy of his grandfather. Elvis Presley ignited his musical curiosity during childhood, and although rock & roll appealed to him, exposure to a Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton duet convinced him that country music aligned with his abilities. As a teenager he departed home for Woodstock, New York, aiming to join a band; arrival occurred in time to witness Jimi Hendrix’s closing performance at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair. By 1975 Miller had settled in Austin, Texas, securing employment behind rockabilly artist Ray Campi and encountering vocalist and songwriter Julie Griffith, who later became his wife and creative partner. During the 1980s the couple participated in Partners in Crime alongside emerging talent Shawn Colvin; the ensemble secured an engagement at New York City’s Lone Star Cafe, prompting Miller to relocate to the metropolis and establish the Buddy Miller Band, which performed regularly at the venue while he also supported Kinky Friedman’s weekly Sunday appearances there. In New York he developed a connection with singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who shared an affinity for country’s progressive wing. Lauderdale’s subsequent move to Los Angeles facilitated Miller’s placement of two compositions on the 1990 compilation Points West: New Horizons in Country Music. That year Julie, then active as a Contemporary Christian performer, issued her debut Myrrh Records album Meet Julie Miller, with Buddy credited as recording engineer and executive producer. Although Julie issued two further Myrrh projects plus one for Larry Norman’s Street Level Records, Buddy encountered obstacles in placing his own material even as he gained notice for studio contributions and a home recording facility used to capture his work.
Hightone Records extended a contract in 1995, resulting in the home-recorded, country-oriented debut Your Love and Other Lies. Miller had already been writing regularly with Jim Lauderdale, contributing guitar to the latter’s Pretty Close to the Truth in 1994 and Every Second Counts in 1995, with additional mutual session appearances to follow. A 1996 boost arrived when Brooks & Dunn included the Miller–Julie composition “My Love Will Follow You” on Borderline, while 1997 brought the solo album Poison Love alongside Julie’s initial secular outing Blue Pony, which Buddy produced. Since 1995 he had also toured as a member of Emmylou Harris’s band, and in 1998 he helmed the album Spyboy documenting that ensemble; 1997 further saw him serve as Steve Earle’s guitarist. The third solo release, Cruel Moon, surfaced in 1999, the same year he assisted Julie on her second secular album Broken Things and co-wrote “Hole in My Head” with Jim Lauderdale, later covered by the Dixie Chicks on their multi-platinum Fly. Production of Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s One Endless Night occurred in 2000, alongside guitar contributions that year to Emmylou Harris’s Red Dirt Girl and Kasey Chambers’s The Captain.
The inaugural Buddy & Julie Miller collaborative album appeared in 2001, with Buddy producing and co-writing. A further solo effort, Midnight and Lonesome, followed in 2002, and he joined the Down from the Mountain tour spotlighting material tied to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. The gospel-tinged Universal United House of Prayer arrived in 2004 as his first New West Records release, coinciding with participation in the Sweet Harmony Travelling Revue alongside Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings. He produced the country-inflected Nashville for soul veteran Solomon Burke in 2006. Following the success of Raising Sand, Miller was enlisted for guitar duties on the 2008 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss tour. Written in Chalk, another Buddy & Julie Miller album, reached stores in 2009, the same year he toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin under the banner “Three Girls and Their Buddy.” The February 19, 2009, Baltimore performance ended abruptly when Miller suffered a heart attack onstage and underwent triple bypass surgery the next day. Building on the earlier Plant & Krauss outings, Robert Plant engaged him to produce the 2010 solo album Band of Joy and to play guitar on the ensuing tour with Patty Griffin.
The 2011 project The Majestic Silver Strings reinterpreted classic country material with guest guitarists Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, and Greg Leisz, supported by bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Jay Bellerose; Miller produced, while vocal contributions came from Julie Miller, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Chocolate Genius, and Ann McCrary. The first duo album with Jim Lauderdale, Buddy & Jim, emerged on New West Records in 2012, accompanied by joint touring. In 2013 Miller expanded his credits by serving as executive music producer for the television series Nashville, overseeing weekly musical elements for the program set in the country music capital. That year also included production of Electric for guitarist Richard Thompson. The 2016 release Cayamo Sessions at Sea compiled performances captured with Miller and assorted guests including Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Kacey Musgraves, Richard Thompson, and Kris Kristofferson aboard the annual roots music cruise. Health challenges limited Julie Miller’s activities for much of the decade, yet 2019 brought the collaborative Breakdown on 20th Ave. South.
Steven Paul Miller entered the world on September 6, 1952, in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton. He passed the bulk of his early years in Princeton, New Jersey, acquiring the nickname “Buddy” courtesy of his grandfather. Elvis Presley ignited his musical curiosity during childhood, and although rock & roll appealed to him, exposure to a Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton duet convinced him that country music aligned with his abilities. As a teenager he departed home for Woodstock, New York, aiming to join a band; arrival occurred in time to witness Jimi Hendrix’s closing performance at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair. By 1975 Miller had settled in Austin, Texas, securing employment behind rockabilly artist Ray Campi and encountering vocalist and songwriter Julie Griffith, who later became his wife and creative partner. During the 1980s the couple participated in Partners in Crime alongside emerging talent Shawn Colvin; the ensemble secured an engagement at New York City’s Lone Star Cafe, prompting Miller to relocate to the metropolis and establish the Buddy Miller Band, which performed regularly at the venue while he also supported Kinky Friedman’s weekly Sunday appearances there. In New York he developed a connection with singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who shared an affinity for country’s progressive wing. Lauderdale’s subsequent move to Los Angeles facilitated Miller’s placement of two compositions on the 1990 compilation Points West: New Horizons in Country Music. That year Julie, then active as a Contemporary Christian performer, issued her debut Myrrh Records album Meet Julie Miller, with Buddy credited as recording engineer and executive producer. Although Julie issued two further Myrrh projects plus one for Larry Norman’s Street Level Records, Buddy encountered obstacles in placing his own material even as he gained notice for studio contributions and a home recording facility used to capture his work.
Hightone Records extended a contract in 1995, resulting in the home-recorded, country-oriented debut Your Love and Other Lies. Miller had already been writing regularly with Jim Lauderdale, contributing guitar to the latter’s Pretty Close to the Truth in 1994 and Every Second Counts in 1995, with additional mutual session appearances to follow. A 1996 boost arrived when Brooks & Dunn included the Miller–Julie composition “My Love Will Follow You” on Borderline, while 1997 brought the solo album Poison Love alongside Julie’s initial secular outing Blue Pony, which Buddy produced. Since 1995 he had also toured as a member of Emmylou Harris’s band, and in 1998 he helmed the album Spyboy documenting that ensemble; 1997 further saw him serve as Steve Earle’s guitarist. The third solo release, Cruel Moon, surfaced in 1999, the same year he assisted Julie on her second secular album Broken Things and co-wrote “Hole in My Head” with Jim Lauderdale, later covered by the Dixie Chicks on their multi-platinum Fly. Production of Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s One Endless Night occurred in 2000, alongside guitar contributions that year to Emmylou Harris’s Red Dirt Girl and Kasey Chambers’s The Captain.
The inaugural Buddy & Julie Miller collaborative album appeared in 2001, with Buddy producing and co-writing. A further solo effort, Midnight and Lonesome, followed in 2002, and he joined the Down from the Mountain tour spotlighting material tied to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. The gospel-tinged Universal United House of Prayer arrived in 2004 as his first New West Records release, coinciding with participation in the Sweet Harmony Travelling Revue alongside Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings. He produced the country-inflected Nashville for soul veteran Solomon Burke in 2006. Following the success of Raising Sand, Miller was enlisted for guitar duties on the 2008 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss tour. Written in Chalk, another Buddy & Julie Miller album, reached stores in 2009, the same year he toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin under the banner “Three Girls and Their Buddy.” The February 19, 2009, Baltimore performance ended abruptly when Miller suffered a heart attack onstage and underwent triple bypass surgery the next day. Building on the earlier Plant & Krauss outings, Robert Plant engaged him to produce the 2010 solo album Band of Joy and to play guitar on the ensuing tour with Patty Griffin.
The 2011 project The Majestic Silver Strings reinterpreted classic country material with guest guitarists Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, and Greg Leisz, supported by bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Jay Bellerose; Miller produced, while vocal contributions came from Julie Miller, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Chocolate Genius, and Ann McCrary. The first duo album with Jim Lauderdale, Buddy & Jim, emerged on New West Records in 2012, accompanied by joint touring. In 2013 Miller expanded his credits by serving as executive music producer for the television series Nashville, overseeing weekly musical elements for the program set in the country music capital. That year also included production of Electric for guitarist Richard Thompson. The 2016 release Cayamo Sessions at Sea compiled performances captured with Miller and assorted guests including Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Kacey Musgraves, Richard Thompson, and Kris Kristofferson aboard the annual roots music cruise. Health challenges limited Julie Miller’s activities for much of the decade, yet 2019 brought the collaborative Breakdown on 20th Ave. South.
Albums
Cayamo Sessions at Sea (Deluxe Edition)
2016
Cayamo Sessions at Sea
2016
Written in Chalk
2013
Buddy and Jim
2012
The Majestic Silver Strings
2011
The Best Of The Hightone Years
2008
Universal United House of Prayer
2004
Midnight And Lonesome
2002
Cruel Moon
1999
Poison Love
1997
Your Love And Other Lies
1995
Singles
