Buddy Miller

Buddy Miller will be 56 when Written In Chalk hits stores, though his work has been on regular exhibit since his wife, Julie (who is somewhat younger), began recording in 1990, and more so since he started making his own records in 1995. If his genius has not yet been widely recognized, no matter; the other musicians, they know. (There was a reason the final print edition of No Depression magazine proclaimed him to be the artist of the decade, and it was not simply the mercurial humor of the magazine's two editors. It was the music.)

He has been a singer, and the successful writer and co-writer of songs other people sang, many of them country stars, including the Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack, and Brooks & Dunn. He has been a multi-instrumentalist and harmony singer for a succession of acclaimed performers, beginning with Julie and then in prompt succession Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams. And, most recently, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (who sings a duet with Buddy on Written In Chalk). And he has produced records -- in the studio he built in their home -- release seperately under his name and Julie's, and bearing their names together (as with Written). That same living space has produced acclaimed albums by Solomon Burke, Allison Moorer and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Soulful Americana songwriter, singer, and producer Buddy Miller began his career in the early '60s as an upright bassist is high-school bluegrass combos. Later, he traveled the back roads of America as an acoustic guitarist, eventually landing in New York City, where his Buddy Miller Band included a young Shawn Colvin on vocals and guitar. He also forged an enduring relationship with country-rock iconoclast Jim Lauderdale. Miller eventually landed in Nashville, where he did session guitar and vocal work on albums by Lauderdale, Victoria Williams, and Heather Myles, among others. He self-produced his criminally overlooked solo debut, Your Love and Other Lies (Hightone, 1995), and followed it with 1997's equally superb Poison Love. By this point Miller was the lead guitarist in Emmylou Harris' band, and Harris returned the favor with backing vocals throughout Poison Love. Released in 1999, Cruel Moon continued Miller's string of home-recorded masterpieces; this time around, Steve Earle dropped by for the sessions. A big part of all Miller's recordings was the songwriting and harmonies of his wife, Julie Miller. The 2001 duet album Buddy & Julie Miller brought her contributions to the front of the mix and delivered them with gritty, soulful country arrangements enhanced by the interplay of his scowl and her lilt, while 2002 saw the release of his fifth album for Hightone, Midnight and Lonesome. It again featured contributions from Julie, Harris, and Lauderdale and mixed honky tonk with heartfelt balladry and the occasional soul cover. In 2004 Miller released the roots gospel album Universal United House of Prayer for New West, followed by Written in Chalk in 2009. In addition to his stellar solo career, Miller held down his gig in Harris' backing band; played guitar with Earle; produced albums by his wife Julie, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and the Vigilantes of Love; and wrote songs for the Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack, Lauderdale, and Hank Williams III. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide