Album Notes

Who is Brad Miller?

I was named after the late Harold Bradley Jackson (aka Shot Jackson). Shot Jackson was a life long friend and mentor to my father Terry Miller. Shot was a major pioneer in the manufacturing of the pedal steel guitar and was the co-founder of the Sho~Bud steel guitar company with Buddy Emmons. Shot’s influence and direction in my father’s life paved they way for my involvement in music.

My father’s passion for Country Music was passed on to me at a very early age. My mother tells stories of me kicking to the beat of my father’s band in her womb when she would go to shows where my father performed while expecting for me. At the age of three I was able to recognize the voices of singers and recall their name as I listened to the radio. My earliest and most fond childhood memories are centered on shows that my dad played at, band rehearsals at our home and sessions that he took me to in Nashville when he was hired to produce albums.

My fascination with music as a child blossomed into a strong desire to play an instrument very early on. I had a ukulele that I used to strum along with Ronnie Millsap and Jerry Reed records at age four. I took piano lessons for a short period of time at age seven and then moved to Saxophone in 4th grade. But then at age twelve my mom and dad gave me a student guitar for Christmas. That did it, I was hooked and I haven’t put it down since then.

At age fourteen I started performing in little garage bands playing Hard Rock. As you can guess my dad was not thrilled with this, neither were the neighbors. But I was left free to discover my place in music and when I was sixteen my dad hired me to play rhythm guitar on a show. I figured that with all the Van Hallen licks I had mastered that this show was going to be a walk in the park. Boy was I wrong. I was put in my place that day but that was the motivation for me to embark on the craft of playing lead guitar in the Country Music arena. I joined a local Country band at seventeen and played in clubs. It was hard to get club owners to let a pimple faced skinny teen-age boy in the door but most just turned a blind eye to it. I think my dad got the local band to hire me because he had a plan. I wasn’t ready to join his band yet but I think in my dad’s mind the local band was a good way to season me in a little before he hired me.

After six months in the local band, I was hired in Kross Kountry. My first gig was a road show where we backed up Tommy Cash. Scared out of my mind but I did it. From there it was backing up Grand Ole Opry and other Country artists several times a month for the next few years. We traveled all over the northeast, southeast and some parts of the mid west backing up folks like Jean Shepard, David Houston, Jeanie Seeley, Connie Smith, Tommy Cash, Hank Thompson, Billy Walker, Stonewall Jackson, Jack Green, Ray Pillow, George Hamilton IV, Donna Darlene, Michael Twitty, Johnny Russel, Norma Jean, Ronnie Stoneman, Hagar Twins, Charlie Louvin, Tiny Tim(yep one gig with Tiny Tim, what a hoot), and many more. This was the greatest experience of my musical career. I learned more from this than going to college.

All of my experiecnes in music and life have led me to this juncture. I truley anjoy writing music and sharing it with others.

Peace,
Brad