The JiMiller Band

By John Benson
Correspondent@News-Herald.com

JiMiller will rock the Lazy Daisy Festival on Saturday.

For some fans of The Grateful Dead, it's hard to imagine 14 years have passed since the death of its iconic singer-guitarist-songwriter Jerry Garcia.

One person who proudly keeps the music going is JiMiller Band visionary and ex-Oroboros member Jim Miller (vocals, guitar), who attended more than 50 Grateful Dead shows over the decades. The list includes Garcia's last show, in summer 1995 in Chicago.

To help keep The Dead's history and spirit alive, Miller annually presents the Lazy Daisy Festival, a celebration of the life and music of the Grateful Dead. This year's event takes place Saturday at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park. The lineup features The JiMiller Band and regional acts Into The Blue, Terrapin Moon and Bronson & Herb.

"This is the seventh annual festival," said Miller, who lives in Russell Township. "It's a little bit of a localized tribute to The Grateful Dead. We do all Dead music. The music starts at noon. It's basically the cheapest festival of the summer and the area, really.

"The music goes all day long and all evening. It's a really, really nice mellow, really fun event. We've had really fantastic times with it. We're looking forward to do doing it again."

He added, "We love Nelson Ledges. It's a great place. We've had up to a couple of thousand people show up depending on what's going on and what the weather is like."

As for The JiMiller Band, the roots-based act continues to play out incessantly. The quartet — Miller, Brett Miller (bass, no relation), Steve "Nev" Scheff (keyboards) and Brian "Bagel" Golenberg (drums) — is working on its follow-up to 2006's "In Transit." The tentative live album includes new tracks such as the Afro-Cuban beat "Far and Few" and the funk-and-jam-based "Big Black Snake Blues."

However, Miller said none of the new songs will be played at the Lazy Daisy Festival, where the music is Garcia-centric. When asked to talk about the continued fascination and popularity of The Grateful Dead, Miller said, "It's the spirit and what it does to you. What the music and the lyrics and the whole vibe says to you. Especially in this day and age, it's more prevalent than ever.

"Their music speaks to everything you can think of — psychologically, socially, spiritually and historically. They are the American roots band, and they taught me everything I want to know about roots music."

So are all these elements tangible at the Lazy Daisy Festival?

"Absolutely, the people that come out and the bands playing have that vibe," Miller said. "The interplay between the band and the people is all one thing. And I wouldn't still be doing this if that didn't happen."

Although the performances at the Lazy Daisy Festival are Saturday, passes are available for Friday through Sunday, $35, or Saturday and Sunday, $25. There is no extra charge for camping, and kids are free. No dogs or glass bottles. For more information, call Nelson Ledges Quarry Park at 440-548-2716.
- The News-Herald

Local legend, the JiMiller Band, hits the Winchester Tavern for the release of its latest CD.

‘In trance it,’ latest JiMiller Band CD, debuts in Lakewood
By Charles Cassady
Insights
Published Dec. 13, 2006

Friday night brings a CD release party to the Winchester Tavern and Music Hall in Lakewood — the release of a CD that was partially recorded live at the Winchester. This means you can go itself…Far out, man!

The group itself is pretty far out, at least in spirit and the breadth of its music. It’s the JiMiller Band, one of the stalwarts upholding the jam-band tradition that the Grateful Dead trailblazed, and whose tie-died iconography and attitude has been carried onward by Phish, The String Cheese Incident, Ekoostik Hookah and Leftover Salmon.

And, for that matter, Cleveland’s own Oroboros. Jim Miller was longtime front man and business manager for the legendary Northeast Ohio group, whose durable play schedule included opening for Black Uhuru, Santana and Rusted Root. Of Oroboros, Miller said “We were the first band in the Midwest to do the jam-band and the Grateful Dead kind of a thing.”

The JiMiller Band itself has opened for the likes of Phish, Merle Saunders, Steve Miller, Government Mule, Leftover Salmon, Dark Star Orchestra, Dickey Betts, and — on several occasions — Bruce Hornsby. The JiMiller Band was part of the 1994 H.O.R.D.E. Festival, the 1996 Further Festival (with members of the Grateful Dead, Los Lobos and Hot Tuna).

Now Miller and his band are truckin’ in at the Winchester on behalf of “In Trance It,” the new double CD, half of which was recorded in the converted bowling alley that is the venue, the other half being studio material.

“This is the first time I’ve done a studio album since 1990, with Oroboros,” said Miller. For those keeping score “In Trance It” marks The JiMiller Band’s fourth recording, closing in the total of six that Miller made with Oroboros.

Don’t think that just because The JiMiller Band gets lumped into the jam-band genre that “In Trance It” and the Winchester show will be another night of the living Dead. The repertoire on the CD ranges Cajun-folk to bluegrass influence to the New Orleans sound. “A lot of ‘straight rockers.’ A lot of ROCKERS, I should say,” said Miller.

The recording also includes a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Tennessee Dead,” the Beatles’ “Going Down the Road” in what Miller calls an up-tempo Woody Guthrie style, and a version of Miller’s “Weather the Storm” over which the singer-songwriter is in discussion with ClearChannel for airing on satellite radio.

The current band lineup is Miller, of Cleveland Heights, on guitar and mandolin; Brett Miller, of Lakewood, on bass; Matt Harmon, of South Euclid, of guitar and dobro; Steve Scheff, of Garfield Heights, on keyboards; and Dan Carter, of Akron, on drums. Miller said that Carter, who thought up the CD’s name, is related to the illustrious Carter family of country-and-western and bluegrass-music royalty.

Normally the JiMiller Band played east side venues, and such as the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights. Miller has performed his jams and Grateful Dead tributes at gatherings such as the Lazy Daisy Festival at Nelson Ledges State Park and the Kent Stage in Kent. When he brought his Thanksgiving all-Dead night to the Winchester in Lakewood a few years ago, a new tradition was born. “We loooove the Winchester. It is by far the best place to see a live show in the city.” Now every year, the night before Thanksgiving at the Winchester is Jim Miller and his band playing Grateful Dead all night long.

As is a jam-band tradition, audience audio taping will be permitted at the CD party. “Absolutely, always. We’re kind to our tapers.” And, if you’re unable to come to this one – or can’t get enough – The JiMiller Band will be holding a CD release show and party for the Akron-Summit County area on Jan.12 at Mocha Maiden.

Other CD-tie in shows happen all up and down the state and in Erie, Penn. Those of you who want to follow the JiMiller Band around in their travels (imagine that) should bookmark the Web site, www.jimiller.com.

Otherwise, the Winchester can be found at 12112 Madison Ave. in Lakewood. This is an all-ages show, and it begins Friday at 9 p.m. Admission is $7. For more information, call the club at (216) 226-5681.

- West Life

THE JIMILLER BAND:CLEVELAND, OH
HERE TO STAY
After he began to see his former group, ‘80s/’90s jamband Oroboros, drifting away from jamband music, guitarist Jim Miller knew it was time for a new start. And thus The JiMiller Band was born. The band has a propensity for improvisation based on such old-school influences as The Grateful Dead, Ry Cooder and the Allman Brothers Band. Influenced by classical music, Irish music and essentially “anything with soul,” as Miller (who has been a part of the scene almost since before there was one) puts it, the band experiments with jazzfusion and blues. Since its inception in 1999, the act has released three CDs, the latest being the excellent two-disc live set Family Roots, a mix of originals and covers that contains a healthy helping of what Miller and company call “multi-synchronistic roots jam insanity.” The band plays predominantly in Northern Ohio but makes occasional forays into Pennsylvania, Western Virginia, Michigan and New York. This summer it plays the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Minnesota. www.Jimiller.com Mick Skidmore - Relix Magazine

The Fishbowl casts fans for jam filled music weekend
By: John Payne
Posted: 10/13/06
It's no Bonnaroo to be sure, but Nate and Wally's Fishbowl is doing its best this weekend to put itself at the center of jam band paradise with performances from returning groups Skinny [formerly 2 Skinny Dorks] and the JiMiller Band.

Both bands have flown their freak flags high in Bowling Green before and both reported getting some groovy vibes from area fans.

"BG's become one of our favorite places to play," said Skinny vocalist and guitarist Jake Blazer. "Everyone who comes out is great. You guys still have hippies and other people who are genuinely into music, which is cool."

Jim Miller expressed hope that attendees of his show will be genuinely into music enough to appreciate his planned three hour set, pushing the time limit even for a genre used to prolonged performances.

"We still do [Grateful] Dead, Allman Brothers and Phish covers," he said. "But we will be highlighting songs off of the new album."

That album is an ambitious effort from the JiMiller Band, a double-disc release featuring the group in the studio and at home on-stage.

"In Trance It" will feature the widespread influences of the entire band, Miller claimed, including "gumbo songs, cajun songs, serious rock songs, bluegrass stuff and some definite spacey stuff."

Although what constitutes a "serious rock" song is still way up in the air, there was no doubt about Miller's personal feelings about Bowling Green.

"When we came to Nate and Wally's there were people on the table dancing," he said. "They are great people. There is something about the BG area."

Coincidentally, Skinny is also out in support of their upcoming album, "Grass," which will come out on Oct. 27.

After several years of recording and touring as 2 Skinny Dorks, the group felt they had outgrown their memorable yet polarizing moniker, hence the abbreviated name Skinny.

"We started out as just two guys on stools trying to get drunk for free," Blazer said. "Now it's [the band] a professional thing for us, with tours and recordings and everything. We just have more integrity, I think."

On a full stomach courtesy of Denny's Grand Slam breakfast, Blazer explained his band's sound.

"It's all positive stuff," he said. "We don't dwell on the negative. If you come see us, we're not gonna be talking about abusive relationships or anything. Also, we're a performing band more than a record band."
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© Copyright 2007 BG News - BG News

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

JiMiller Band still cooking in traditional Thanksgiving

From West Life Newspaper:

JiMiller Band still cooking in traditional Thanksgiving
By Charles Cassady

It's a Thanksgiving tradition, the JiMiller Band performing a pre-Turkey Day jam-music show that's dead-icated to the Grateful Dead. It happens tonight at the Winchester Tavern and Music Hall in Lakewood.

"We were the first band in the Midwest to do the jam band and the Grateful Dead kind of a thing," said Jim Miller, of Cleveland Heights — not about the JiMiller Band, but his previous outfit, Oroboros, which he managed and fronted for nearly two decades. Now he's at the head of the JiMiller Band, playing guitar and mandolin (along with Rick Davison on guitar, Brett Miller on bass, Steve Scheff on keyboards and drummer Fred Perez-Stable) to continue the tradition of freeform, jazz-infused improvisation-heavy rock that was made famous by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and - come on, you can name them all, right? If "the Professor and Mary Ann" pops into your head, maybe you've been to too many Grateful Dead shows.

Jim Miller confesses to having seen the Grateful Dead perform live 55 times ("What a knucklehead," he says of himself). A few times per year the JiMiller Band does an "all Dead all night" tribute, featuring Miller time variations on famous Dead arrangements and favorites. In a noble jam-band tradition, audience members will be permitted to tape the show for their own enjoyment, but bring some change for Cds of the JiMiller Band's own recordings, including "Family Roots," "Not Necessarily Dead" and the recent "Rock and Roll Always Do," which was recorded live at such Cuyahoga County and Akron venues as the Rhythm Room, Peabody's and the Dusty Frog.

It is an all-ages show, starting at approximately 9 p.m. The Winchester islocated at 12112 Madison Ave. in Lakewood; phone (216) 226-5681 for tickets and more information. The Web site for the band is http://www.jimillerband.com/.
posted by SLC Library Boy at Wednesday, November 23, 2005

- Charles Cassady