Miller and The Other Sinners

"During the debut run of the Borderland Music & Art festival, held across two days at the bucolic Knox Farm State Park outside of Buffalo, NY, soulful Americana ensemble Miller & the Other Sinners came close to stealing the show on a bill that also included stellar sets from the likes of Oteil Burbridge & Friends, Margo Price and John Oates & the Good Road Band.
Miller and his soul-stirring ensemble, which included gospel-tinged backing vocalists and a full horn section, were forced to extend their set due to last-minute cancellation by the Infamous Stringdusters, and they grabbed the opportunity by the horns, stretching out their southern soul stylings and blues-soaked forays to the delight of the late afternoon crowd. Part of the magic here can be posited to Miller’s deeply emotive vocals and soul-searing slide guitar work, but the entire ensemble breathed as one throughout a set that celebrated roots music in fresh, imaginative ways, marrying the giddiness of Saturday night hijinks with the bleary-eyed come-uppance of a Sunday morning spent at a gospel church.
With nods to groundbreaking work of seminal genre-bending roots and American acts like the Band and the Allman Brothers, and a fearlessness in the face of extended ensemble interplay, Miller and company turned in a set that was a high-point during the maiden voyage of a killer new festival that offered every indication of being built to last." - Jeff Miers - Music Critic, The Buffalo News

"This makes it two in a row for David Michael Miller. His Poisons Sipped was one of last year’s surprise albums, introducing us to a songwriter, guitarist, and singer who is the whole package. Same Soil builds on that with its clear understanding of the blues, soul, and everything in between. Throughout it all, Miller’s guitar play-ing is more than solid, supplying the mojo for most of the songs. His deep growl is fiercely soulful and he soars into upper registers, calling to mind the late Chris Whitley at his finest....He and his band’s willingness to let the song grow, along with the incredible use of dynamics, is one of many aspects that make his music some of the best out there today. Miller handles all the guitar parts perfectly. Whether swinging slide work or on-the-money rhythm, it all fits.” - Vintage Guitar Magazine

David Michael Miller spent 2015 cementing his reputation as the pre-eminent soul-blues singer, songwriter and performer in Western New York.
Already widely adored by music-savvy concertgoers in the region through his work as a founding member of Dive House Union, Miller followed that band’s declaration of an indefinite hiatus by digging deeper into his career as a solo artist and leader of the band Miller and the Other Sinners. He followed up last year’s “Poisons Sipped” album with “Same Soil,” a deeply moving, gospel-tinged affair that scored consistently high marks on national blues charts. Miller and his band hit the road throughout the Midwest and southwest, becoming an uber-tight powerhouse in the process. The band is back in town for a show at 9 p.m. Thursday at the Strand Theatre (540 Oliver St., North Tonawanda).

Question: 2015 has been a pretty incredible year for you. What have been some of the highlights of the year?
Answer: Finishing this second album was certainly a big highlight to me. I had a chance to work with Grammy-nominated producer Mike Brown, at his Temperamental Studio in Geneseo. Recording in that old church with a lot of pre-World War II gear was a rewarding experience, and I think we produced something pretty special. I guess a few other highlights would be having the opportunity to open for the Steve Miller Band at Artpark for 14,000-plus; being included in the Son House Music Festival in Rochester; receiving the New Artist of the Year award from the Arts Services Institute; and doing my first extended tour – five weeks, through the mid- and southwest. Every show is a gift. I think my favorite show this year was Miller and the Other Sinners playing for 100 men in recovery at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center in Columbus, Ohio, and giving them each “Poisons Sipped” CDs that were bought by mostly Western New Yorkers as gifts.

Q: Miller and the Other Sinners has had a somewhat fluid roster, but for the majority of your touring, you’ve settled on a consistent lineup. Tell me what each of these players brings to the bandstand?
A: I have been working a few different lineups to find some magic in both what happens on stage and what happens on the road. My main man is the incredibly gifted Jay Moynihan on sax and guitar. He’s known for having played sax with Buddy Guy for nearly a decade. He knows what the road is like. Ever since I started working with (drummer) Carlton Campbell, he has become my benchmark as both a drummer and the kind of human being I want to work with. It’s hard for him to work the road the way I do, so I needed to find a couple other local drummers who could fill those shoes – both Deshawn “D-Ray” Jackson and Damone Jackson. Though they each have their own distinct rhythmic voice, both are incredible musicians, easy to work with, great on the road and can bring that “church feel” I am looking for. I had been working with Zuri Appleby on bass and vocals for several months, but as everyone knows by now, she went to the big leagues, backing Nick Jonas around the world. Unfortunately for me, her opportunity came weeks before our first major tour and I found myself in a pinch looking for another player that could feel where I wanted to go. Anthony Henry reached out to me, and though I had never heard him in person, I had a few folks I respect tell me to give him a solid listen. After only a few minutes of jamming, I was hooked on his vibe and he’s been a blast to tour with. One of the great things about Buffalo is that it’s full of awesome musicians; that has allowed me to bring different ones out to find the mix that works.

Q: You have an incredibly soulful voice, and you bring a lot of different influences – gospel, soul, R&B, funk, rock – to the blues. What and who are some of your biggest influences?
A: I don’t know that I consider myself a blues artist, even though I have an album that charted on a blues chart. The blues is certainly the foundation of what I do, but (Soundgarden singer, solo artist) Chris Cornell would probably say that as well. Speaking of Cornell, he is a huge influence on me. A few other artists that I go back to for inspiration are Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield, the Staple Singers, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, BB King, Johnny Cash, Andre Crouch, and more-modern artists like Derek Trucks, D’Angelo, Nickel Creek, older U2, and Tower of Power. It’s a bit of a mix, but I am drawn to a cry from the heart, to real soul.

Q: What’s 2016 looking like for you?
A: A lot of hard work. (laughs) My main goal is to work the road, meet new friends and fans everywhere I travel, to see this incredible world with my wife, all while preaching these songs. - Jeff Miers - Buffalo News

Guitarist/vocalist David Michael Miller gets a big assist from legendary sacred steel performers the Campbell Brothers in this project, an interesting blend of original blues, rock and gospel that captures your attention from the first note.

A veteran of the western New York music scene, where he was honored as the top male blues vocalist last year, Miller started his musical career in church and interned in Nashville before going home to form Painted By Moses in the mid-‘90s before moving on to blues/roots with Beautiful Bones, his family band, a few years later. He’s been front man for Dive House Union — a jam band that’s shared the stage with James Cotton, Tedeshi Trucks, Gary Clark Jr. and Jimmy Vaughan among others. The group’s toured regularly and earned honors as a semi-finalist in the Blues Foundation’s 2013 International Blues Challenge.

Powerful both as a guitarist and vocalist, Miller’s been planning this first solo effort for several years after working with Buffalo-based producer/keyboard player Jesse Miller on this and other projects. This disc features sacred steel solos by Chuck Campbell on pedal steel and brother Darick on lap steel while brother Carlton holds down drums and bandmate Daric Bennett contributes bass.

They’re joined by saxophonist Jason Moynihan, who’s worked with Buddy Guy, and keyboard player Jim Ehinger (Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal), as well as a host of Buffalo area talent, including Rufus McGee Jr. (organ), Barry Arbogast (saxophone), Stephen Jacob Mclean Jr. (trumpet), Ron Davis (accordion), Serena Young, Ashely Brown and Jasmine Neeley (backing vocals).

The theme of a running battle between good and evil runs through this work and its subtitle reads “twelve treatments to soothe the soul.” But it delivers to a secular audience without any additional effort. “Hand Me Downs” features Chuck Campbell. It’s a hard-hitting, uptempo blues-rocker about wearing clothes left behind by a brother shot dead in a schoolyard. Chuck continues lead along with Ehinger for the funky “Edge Of The End Of The World,” which provides hope when dealing with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The pace slows for “Memphis Belle,” a six-minute burner, as Darrick kicks off this tale of the first look at a new love who “soothes like heaven, but hurts like hell.”

“Hope Finds A Way” provides inspiration for someone who down in the dumps, driving home the point there’ll be a positive outcome in a life’s worth living atop some searing guitar lines. “Moonshine” is reminiscence and homage to first love and marriage, toasted with a little sweet home-made elixir. The rapid-fire “Spent” is a tribute to a hard-working mother who never stops attending to chores before the pace slows for “Carolina Bound,” a musical reverie about leaving the cold of the North for a warmer climate where sweeter memories will grow in spring – or at least taking a vacation from the pain.

“Careless” is another slow-paced portrait of a person, possibly a child, who goes from one life-threatening situation to another without any sense of danger, as “fragile as you are wild.” Next up, “Diggin On Bill” relates experiencing a day when nothing’s going right. But Miller starts listening to the music of Bill Withers, and everything changes for the better. Although there’s no mention of the late, great singer in the handsomely packaged liner notes, there are several allusions to his tunes in the lyrics. Three more tunes — “Once,” a positive look back at crumbling and rebuilding once life; “Movin On,” about leaving troubles in the rear-view mirror; and “Extraordinary,” a tribute to man with all his successes and failings – conclude the work.

While this disc isn’t your grandfather’s blues by any stretch of the imagination, it’s a highly successful undertaking on many levels. The tunes, while inspirational, are not preachy, and their message is clear. And the music is top-notch. If your tastes run beyond the only one-four-five, if you’re looking for something refreshing and original, you’ll love Poison Sipped. It definitely won’t kill you, and it probably will brighten your day! - Blues Blast Magazine

Dive House Union, a smoking-hot soul-blues-jam outfit that has spent the last several years earning a reputation as one of the Buffalo music scene’s must-see live acts, took a hiatus a few months back – a move that proved to be an incredibly smart one. During the break, members of the band dug in their heels on various solo projects and could be seen “sitting in” at various clubs around town.

Vocalist/guitarist David Michael Miller recently completed a monthlong weekly residency at the Central Park Grill on Main Street. The occasion for the residency was a build-up to the release of Miller’s album, “Poisons Sipped.” These shows found Miller joined by members of Rochester Sacred Steel and jam-band legends the Campbell Brothers. The word-of-mouth veered between the simply ecstatic and the downright hyperbolic.

Well, that is, hyperbolic until you listen to “Poisons Sipped,” an extraordinary collection of 12 Miller compositions performed by an all-star ensemble that includes members of the Campbell Brothers and a handful of our city’s finest soul, blues and rock players. (Dive House Union saxophonist Barry Arbogast shows up on three tunes.)

Miller is one of the finest soul-based singers in our region, and throughout “Poisons Sipped,” he proves he’s also one of our most vibrant songwriters. Elements of gospel, R&B, electric blues and singer-songwriter leanings collide here to form a collection of elegant, stately and eminently grooving songs, delivered with consistent passion. This is incredibly spirited stuff, and it represents a new high-watermark for Buffalo-born recordings. - The Buffalo News

David Michael Miller is familiar with the blues circuits, having toured with various bands (including fronting Divine House Union). Now Miller comes to us with a solo offering, the densely packed Poisons Sipped, and he’s backed by the Campbell Brothers. The line-up featured on Poisons Sipped is intended to stay consistent through Miller’s following albums (which are apparently already being considered – plans to release a live recorded from the tours supporting Poisons Sipped are already being laid). David Michael Miller’s drive to create content feels like a train running while the tracks are still being laid – and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At first listen, Poisons Sipped will stand out for its dense, thick layers of recorded tracks – a big stereo album for a digital age. Upon second inspection, Poisons Sipped will leave a proper impression of what it really is, a gospel album at heart.

Miller’s use of horn-and-electric-piano often sounds like a born-again Supertramp, and there’s a healthy country influence scattered throughout Poisons Sipped as well (a track titled “Moonshine” makes an appearance around the halfway mark). Memphis Belle has a wonderful gospel piano and a whiney country guitar that would give it a schizophrenic feel were it not a slow jam track. “Carolina Bound” captures a similar southern vibe. “Hand Me Downs” stands out as Poisons Sipped’s most aggressive track, featuring a grittier-voiced Miller and driving guitarwork coupled with a harmonica appearance.

The only troubling thing regarding Poisons Sipped is uniform presentation. Its brilliant moments are all brilliant for their same combination of unique gospel and country elements. It’s a little troubling to consider this on one hand and Miller’s apparent desire to push forward quickly on the other. The closing track, “Extraordinary,” while being one of the dud songs off the record stands out simply for its different construction.

The cover of David Michael Miller’s Poisons Sipped reads “twelve treatments to soothe the soul.” While the occasional of these “treatments” may not strive to be particularly soothing, (the aggression of “Hand Me Downs”), Miller’s voice coupled with his affinity for gospel songs definitely confirms that Poisons Sipped strikes at the soul. Miller’s debut solo record has proved that he has a unique take on the blues; hopefully the next few albums Miller has in mind continue this development.

The Review: 7.5/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Hand Me Downs
– Memphis Belle
– Careless

The Big Hit

– Hand Me Downs

Review by Richard MacDougall - Blues Rock Review

"As a consultant and site ops manager I was responsible for some of the talent buying and structure for Borderland Music Festival. Once the lineup was set my duties shifted over to site ops manager where I was in charge of all the operations for the festival spanning to layout, structure, production, patrons, vendors and everything in-between. Having Miller and the Other Sinners apart of the festival this year was a true blessing. The band is loaded with talent and they're certainly making some noise in the scene today. They brought a type of energy and performance we we're looking for at Borderland this year. I certainly hope to have them back and work together for many years to come." - Josh Holtzman - Borderland Music Festival