Update from the
Sep. 23/09 newsletter: Buddy was nominated for
five 2009 Americana Awards
and won four (artist of the year; album of the year for Written in Chalk
with wife Julie Miller; duo/group of the year with his wife; and song of the
year for "Chalk" performed with Patty Griffin.)
The following piece was originally written
prior to Buddy's June 5th Massey Hall appearance as part of "3 Girls and Their
Buddy" together with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin & Shawn Colvin.
“If you want to talk about how country music
should be nowadays, it's Buddy Miller.” - Emmylou Harris
The show does indeed feature three great girls, and while Emmylou certainly needs no
introduction (I fell in love with her voice back in 1975 with her Pieces
of the Sky LP), it's the return to town of Buddy Miller that has me
most interested.
Buddy, for many, is a giant in the American music field. He
leads the pack with
five nominations
for the 2009 American Music Awards; but being nominated as artist of the
year is no big deal for someone who's been named as alternative country artist of the decade.
(By No Depression magazine in its final print issue). The
Globe & Mail's Brad Wheeler, in his March 16
review of Written in Chalk, the CD by Buddy and wife Julie Miller,
wrote in relation to
Buddy, "Of Stanley Kubrick, Jack Nicholson once said: 'Everyone pretty much
acknowledges he's the man, and I still think that underrates him.'"
He's earned his reputation not only as a performer, but as much-in-demand
guitarist (playing in bands of Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris as well as
touring with Robert Plant and Allison Krauss last year) and producer
(including Solomon Burke's great 2006 CD, Nashville).
His music is very much tied to that of his wife, Julie Miller. They've
been performing together, on and off, for more than 30 years, releasing both
solo and duo albums. This year's Written in Chalk, a
"Buddy & Julie" CD has garnered great reviews (No
Depression's is
here,
which also features a video of Buddy talking about the CD). They perform
songs alone and together on the album, but it's Julie's songwriting that is
the real heart of the album. Among the standouts is "June", a moving song by
Julie that she wrote -- and recorded -- on the night of June Carter Cash's
death.
Chalk is only the second CD released between the
two of them in the last seven years. Buddy's work, and Julie's health have
been among the reasons there has been so little recorded output from the
couple. However, Julie hasn't been the only one with health problems;
Buddy had triple-bypass surgery this spring and is only now returning to the
tour.
For an excellent portrait of Buddy and Julie, see this
May article from Paste magazine.
The video below is Buddy talking about his very unique guitar (photo
above is from his 2005 Horseshoe show).
More video:
"Worry
Too Much": the music video for the opening track from
Buddy's 2004 Universal United House of Prayer CD
The show does indeed feature three great girls, and while Emmylou certainly needs no
introduction (I fell in love with her voice back in 1975 with her Pieces
of the Sky LP), it's the return to town of Buddy Miller that has me
most interested.
His music is very much tied to that of his wife, Julie Miller. They've
been performing together, on and off, for more than 30 years, releasing both
solo and duo albums. This year's Written in Chalk, a
"Buddy & Julie" CD has garnered great reviews (No
Depression's is