Jeff Miller

Jeff Miller Unveils Debut Album Time Ticks By
First Single “Meant to Be” Already on The Music Row Charts

For nearly a decade, country artist Jeff Miller has touched, comforted and influenced audiences from different walks of life with his country sound and southern rock style. Now, with the release of his debut album on Colt Records, Miller has finally given his fans a complete collection of his songs on one, masterfully-recorded and produced CD entitled Time Ticks By.

Featuring his hit single ‘Meant to Be,’ which is currently on the Music Row Charts, Miller’s album presents a mix of material that can most accurately be classified as “alternative country.” From the pop-infused ‘Walking in the Park’ to the soulful ballad ‘Everything,” this inspiring release embodies a depth and range in Miller that is not typically found in a first release.

Spending his career touring the country and performing in front of such country music legends as Martina McBride, Jack Ingram, Bryan White, and Hall of Fame inductee Tom T. Hall, Miller has honed his skills on the road and established himself as a viable, country music artist.

Currently performing in and around his hometown of Southern Maryland, Miller recently took time to film his first music video which is set to air on GAC and CMT. For a complete list of show dates, visit www.jeffmillercounty.net.
- Music Row Charts

A young girl runs out the front door to catch the bus. A young boy meets
her at the bus stop and convinces her to ditch school and swim in the
creek. A decade later they reunite and get married.

So goes the video for Jeff Miller's modern pop-country tune "Meant to
Be," a single from his debut album "Time Ticks By." Filmed on a farm in
St. Mary's County, it can be viewed at www.jeffmillercountry.com and
will be aired next year on Country Music Television and Great American
Country.

Miller, who grew up in La Plata and now lives in St. Mary's County, has
recently been working at night so he can focus on music during the day.
He is 27, married, has a 2-month-old daughter and is in the process of
leaving his job to play music full time.

A Nashville-based record company offered him a contract last spring, and
Miller hopes to establish a schedule of playing five or six gigs a week
to build a regional following and promote the debut he recorded in
Waldorf's Nightsky Studios.

Although he is now working on a record company-backed sophomore effort,
Miller is not about to dismiss "Time Ticks By." The album presents a mix
of material, and none of it lines up exactly with standard notions of
modern country.

"It's twisting the edge of country," Miller said. "I almost call it
country-alternative."

Country-alternative might classify a few songs on the album, but not the
bubblegum popping "Walk in the Park" or the emotional soul ballad,
"Everything."

Miller wanted to show record companies what he is capable of and allow
them to choose what he does best. His next album will zoom in on his
brand of country-alternative heard in tunes like "Victoria" (pop-rock
with a country twist) and "Karma," a foot-stomping modern country tune
in which the country elements (Nashville-style pedal steel and banjo)
are easier to access.

"If you listen to a lot of country music nowadays it's not exactly
country," he said. "The pop industry has crossed over into the country
industry. ? They are taking pop singers and they are throwing a banjo
and fiddle into it and calling it country music. But I feel like my
style is more Keith Urban meets Rob Thomas."

Miller began to sing in church and enter talent shows when he was just
4. He got his first guitar at 10, but he did not get serious about the
instrument until his junior year of high school.

For his gigs around Southern Maryland, Miller is backed by long-running
Southern Maryland country band, Dance Hall Ghosts.

While Miller is clearly aiming for commercial success, he said the songs
he writes genuinely express the kind of music he feels compelled to
make, and that he does not try to write hooks with an ear for mass appeal.

"I do make music that I want to make," he said. "I am very much into the
new country-rock scene. What I write, pretty much, is what I want to
write. I don't mold what I write around what other people like."

Growing up, Miller listened to popular country musicians of the era.
Like many others from his generation, however, he also listened to Red
Hot Chili Peppers, Soul Asylum and Pearl Jam.

It was the 1990s; new country was on the rise. Garth Brooks was blurring
the line between rock and country.

"Now you look at Garth Brooks and you think, ?that's country,' but it's
not," Miller said. "He's the one who started the big rock-country push
as far as being an entertainer. People before him like George Strait ?
he stands in one spot the entire time and his fans know every song. He's
not the kind of guy who runs around like a rock star. Now I am a bigger
fan of Keith Urban, Jack Ingram, people who have that Southern rock mix."

- So MD News.com/Dickson Mercer