Buddy Miller

Buddy was born in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton, and his family ended up settling in Princeton, New Jersey.[2][1] His grandfather gave him the nickname "Buddy."[3]

During the late 1970s he was in a country-rock band called the Desperate Men, which played in the NNJ and New York area, including clubs like Stanhope House, Cuss From Hoe and others. In 1975, he moved to Austin, Texas and played rockabilly music in Ray Campi's band. He auditioned for and played in the band Partners In Crime with Julie Griffin (soon to be his second wife).[2][4]

In 1980, they moved to New York City, and Miller formed the Buddy Miller Band,[5] which included singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin on vocals and guitar. He also performed with Jim Lauderdale and Larry Campbell.[4] Each Sunday, Miller performed in Kinky Friedman's band at the Lone Star Cafe.[6]

Miller moved to Nashville in the 1990s, after a stint in Los Angeles. He worked on recording sessions as a guitar player and vocalist, and began producing his own records in his living room studio named Dogtown.[7][8]

In 1995, Buddy along with the Sacred Cows recorded a gospel album, Man on the Moon.[9]

His first solo recording, Your Love and Other Lies, was released in 1995.[10] It was followed by Poison Love in 1997[11] and Cruel Moon in 1999.[12]

He and his wife, Julie Miller, released Buddy & Julie Miller in 2001, which won the Album of the Year Award from the Americana Music Association.[13]

In 2002, he released Midnight and Lonesome[14] and in 2004 he released Universal United House of Prayer.[15]

2009 brought another Buddy and Julie duet album Written in Chalk[16] and in 2011 Buddy collaborated with Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, and Greg Leisz to release The Majestic Silver Strings.[17]

In 2012, Buddy and Jim Lauderdale released the duet album Buddy & Jim[18] and in 2016, Buddy recorded sessions by Kacey Musgraves, Nikki Lane, Lee Ann Womack, Brandi Carlile, and Kris Kristofferson on the album Cayamo: Sessions at Sea.[19]

Miller has toured as lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Emmylou Harris's Spyboy band,[20] Steve Earle on his El Corazon tour,[21] and Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on their Western Wall tour.[22]

In 2002, Miller toured as part of the Down from the Mountain Tour along with Alison Krauss and Union Station.[23]

In 2004, Miller toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue.[24]

In 2008, Miller toured as part of the band on Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand tour of the U.S. and Europe.[25]

In 2009, Miller joined Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin on tour as Three Girls and Their Buddy.[26] While on that tour, following a performance in Baltimore on February 19, 2009, Miller suffered a heart attack. He underwent successful triple bypass surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital on February 20.[27]

In 2010, Miller again joined Robert Plant and Patty Griffin with Plant's Band of Joy, touring the U.S. and Europe.[28]

In 2012, Miller toured with Jim Lauderdale on the Buddy and Jim Tour.[29]

In 2015, Miller was one of the leaders of the house band for Dear Jerry, a tribute concert for Jerry Garcia, which included over 20 acts and took place at Merriweather Post Pavilion.[30]

In 2016, Miller was part of the Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees tour featuring Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and the Milk Carton Kids.[31]

For the past decade, Buddy has often been a part of the Cayamo Cruise, which sails from Miami to St. Maarten and Tortola. Each year, prominent Americana musicians are on board, and Buddy often collaborates and records with them.[32]

He is a regular performer at the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival in San Francisco where, billed as Buddy Miller's Cavalcade of Stars, he features a changing roster of guest performers.

Between 2002 and 2013, Miller won twelve Americana Music Honors & Awards and was nominated for seven others.[57] Since 2005, he has led the Americana All Star Band, which performs with nominated artists during the Americana Music Honors & Awards ceremonies, held annually at the Ryman Auditorium.[58]

No Depression magazine named him Artist of the Decade in 2008.[2]

Miller and his longtime friend and collaborator Jim Lauderdale teamed up in 2012 to produce The Buddy & Jim Radio Show, broadcast on Sirius XM Outlaw Country.[60]

Fender produces a Buddy Miller signature acoustic guitar.[61]

Buddy frequently uses vintage Wandré electric guitars[62] and TEO mando-guitars.[63]

In his studio, Buddy uses a pair of Swart amplifiers: Atomic Space Tones and Atomic Space Tone Pros, and two tremolos panned in stereo at conflicting settings.[64] Onstage, he often uses a Swart Atomic Space Tones amplifier and a Fulltone Supa-Trem2 pedal.[65]

He mostly records using Pro Tools, but in his recording studio Buddy treasures a 1970s Trident B Range 28×24 analog recording console that previously belonged to Mark Heard.[64][56]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buddy Miller.

• Official website
• Buddy Miller discography at Discogs