FIRST TRACK SHENANDOAH SHAKEDOWN DEBUTS WITH RELIX 

MILLER ANNOUNCES SUMMER TOUR DATES INCLUDING NASHVILLE’S 3RD & LINDSLEY AND MOUNTAIN STAGE IN CHARLESTON, WV

LISTEN TO SHENANDOAH SHAKEDOWN & PRE-ORDER DEPRECIATED

“The Nashville-based artist is a gifted, evocative songwriter who revisits his West Virginia youth on the 11 original compositions” - RELIX 

“A well-traveled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time.” - TYLER CHILDERS 

Toronto, ON - May 12, 2021 - Emerging singer-songwriter and guitarist, John R. Miller, announced his debut solo album, Depreciated, will be released July 16 on historic record label, Rounder Records. Miller also announced summer tour dates throughout July and August. He will tour across the U.S. including shows in Indianapolis, Lexington, Nashville, and Charleston, where he will perform a Mountain Stage concert which will be broadcast by NPR. On sale date of tickets and further shows to be announced shortly. 

Miller debuted album track, Shenandoah Shakedown, which he premiered via Relix Magazine. “The Nashville-based artist is a gifted, evocative songwriter who revisits his West Virginia youth on the 11 original compositions” wrote Relix Magazine, adding, “the album effectively presents Miller’s absorbing, nuanced country-blues material.”

The track is a four-minute epic with a collection of psychedelic-influenced vignettes. Discussing the song, Miller stated, “At some point or another we all confuse attachment for love, and probably stay in a relationship long past its expiration date. In this song the narrator dwells, in hallucinatory fragments, on one such relationship after its end, framed by the imposing-yet-comforting presence of the Shenandoah River.”

Depreciated blends a vast array of classic sounds from countrypolitan and swamp rock to the Tulsa sound, which attracted multiple Grammy nominee Justin Francis (Leon Bridges, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price) and renowned guitarist Adam Meisterhans to produce the album. Miller was signed after a moment of industry serendipity: another producer walked past the studio where Francis was mixing the album and was so impressed with what he heard that he passed the music on to an A&R person for Concord.

John Strohm, President, Rounder Records, stated, “We at Rounder are so proud to work with John R. Miller. His wry, unassuming songwriting voice belies a profound insight into the struggle and sacrifice of a drifter’s life. He’s an extraordinary storyteller in the tradition of great American singers/writers such as John Prine, Guy Clark, and Mickey Newbury, and we believe he will develop into one of the leading voices of his own generation.” 

Miller began playing music as a young teenager in a tight-knit DIY scene in West Virginia. Miller’s first band was a punk quartet he and his friends formed at 14 years old. They would rent out church halls and Ruritan clubs to put on shows since they were not old enough to perform in bars. Before long, he gravitated toward folk and country music, which ignited a burning desire to travel as a touring musician and eventually drove him to quit school. He busked with a string band to earn a living and traveled to D.C., New York, and Knoxville, and would pen his own songs in his downtime. He spent the next 15 years as a touring musician, both leading bands and playing as a side man and bass player for a litany of other songwriters including the Hackensaw Boys, Sierra Ferrell, and J.P. Harris.  

Life on the road began to take its toll and became the catalyst for his move to Nashville. After Miller found himself waking up every morning with a glass of vodka in his hand to start the day, he realized that he needed a fresh start. That epiphany inspired his move to Nashville, where he knew that he could maintain his sobriety as he continued to earn a living as a musician. He recalls, “Heavy touring life took a toll on my health and I used drinking to soften the blows, which eventually spiraled to a bottom point. I decided I had to take control of my life so I sobered up and moved from West Virginia to Nashville in 2017 to start over, and began making music and touring under my own name.”

Depreciated takes us back to Miller’s time growing up in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and reflects on his relationship with his childhood home and the way things diminish over time, whether they be the car he drove off the lot, or the relationships he left behind. 

Depreciated was recorded at the legendary Studio A of Sound Emporium in Nashville. Miller was ably backed on the sessions by Meisterhans, who contributed guitar and production; co-producer Francis on congas and Wurlitzer, Chloe Edmonstone offering a plaintive fiddle, John Looney on mandolin, Jonathan Beam providing bass, Russ Pahl’s shimmery pedal steel, John Clay on drums, and Robbie Crowell playing the Wurlie and Hammond B3.

Miller has also gained early tastemaker attention from The Bluegrass Situation and Spotify, which added recently-released track “Faustina”” to their highly regarded Indigo, Roots Rising and Chill Folk playlists. Tyler Childers is also a fan of Miller’s intricate songwriting and started performing Miller-penned songs in his live sets including “Coming Down,” and proclaimed him “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time.” 

Depreciated will be released July 16 on Rounder Records. To know more about John R. Miller, go to his website here. 

Depreciated Tracklist

1.Lookin’ Over My Shoulder

2.Borrowed Time

3.Faustina

4.Shenandoah Shakedown

5.Coming Down

6.Old Dance Flood

7.Motor’s Fried

8.Back and Forth

9.What’s Left of the Valley

10.Half Ton Van

11.Fire Dancer

Tour dates:

Friday, July 9 - Crossville, TN - Oaklawn Farms

Saturday, July 10 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle

Tuesday, July 13 - Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse

Friday, July 16 - Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic

Saturday, July 17 - Huntsville, AL - Sidetracks Music Hall

Sunday, July 18 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley 

Wednesday, July 21 - Indianapolis, IN - Duke’s Indy

Thursday, July 22 - Newport, KY - The Southgate House Revival (Sanctuary)

Friday, July 23 - Huntington, WV - V Club

Monday, July 26 - Thomas, WV - Purple Fiddle

Tuesday, July 27 - Vienna, VA - Jammin Java Music Club & Cafe

Wednesday, July 28 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head On Stage

Friday, July 30 - Lexington, KY - The Burl

Saturday, July 31 - Columbus, OH - Rumba Cafe

Sunday, Aug 1 - Charleston, WV - Mountain Stage

jrmillermusic.com

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