BEN

Introducing Ben Miller! Born in New Orleans in 1983, Ben Miller was raised with music and culture from the start. Musical surroundings led to interest in many types of music including jazz, classical, classic rock, and some country. “My mother was always listening to different things like George Strait and Wynona, and then she’d put in a Queen CD. Some other days she’d listen to Mozart or Chopin, and then switch it around to some Andrew Lloyd Webber, and then Yanni. These were the names I grew up listening to. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered more of the musical world that was being offered. I wasn’t introduced to guitar players, bands, and inspirational minds of music until I began to play the guitar.”

In 1995 the family was moved to Tampa, FL, where just a few years later, at the age of 17, Ben began to play guitar. “The biggest thing for me was that everybody had ‘limits’ as to what could be done on the guitar, and how long it would take to do certain things. I wanted to learn ‘Johnny B. Goode’, but the people at the guitar store told me it would take 6 months to learn. I didn’t want to wait, and I didn’t believe I had to.”

Only 5 months later, Ben performed his own version of Van Halen’s “Eruption” for the school talent show his junior year. The next year he won the instrumental category without preparing a single note. “I DID prepare something, but it just wasn’t working right. I recorded a backing track that I would solo with using the acoustic guitar, and then switch to the electric guitar to finish my act, but it was just too awkward switching. For the rehearsal before the show, I got rid of the acoustic and just stuck with the electric and the backing track, but it sounded horrible hahaha. The night of the show came, and there I was: in total darkness behind the black curtains. All the light I could see was the red coming from my pedalboard and the spotlight bleeding underneath the giant curtains. And I thought to myself, just seconds before the curtains went up, ‘what am I about to play?’. I figured I’d just wing it. Curtain rose, crowd went nuts, and I played whatever came into my head.” Ben ended up winning for the instrumental category. This was the perfect taste. Victory, accomplishment, courage, and direction. “I knew, in those moments, what I wanted to do with my life”.

After a few years working here and there, Ben ended up working with local metal and punk rock bands for original music, and then landed a gig with a working cover band in the area. After cutting his teeth on classic rock, alternative, 80′s rock and R&B, and modern rock over the next 5 or 6 years, the time had come to pursue something bigger. “So we moved to Nashville and never looked back. Of course things got tough not having a job or a gig after being successful in Tampa, but I eventually met a bunch of people here in town and landed a gig with a Neo-Soul/Soul group as a house band musician in town where I’ve been playing ever since. Eventually I was hired at Corner Music in Nashville, and the rest is history. I’ve met more people through serving them at the store than I have my entire life, and I’m sure I’ll continue to do so. God knows how thankful I am already.”

As of 2011, Ben Miller, 28 years old, is associated with different companies including V-Picks and Knaggs Guitars. “I’ll stay on this path as long as I’m required to, and it’s been exciting so far to meet so many wonderful people that I’ve been able to help and receive help from. I just know I’m on the right path, and I’ll just keep smiling and watching it unfold. Here’s to the future!” -