With her sexy, soulful voice and wise lyrics, with influences ranging from The Beatles to classical music to the poetry of Charles Bukowski and Maya Angelou, Sheri Miller creates a "sensual soundscape of hypnotic bluesy American soul meets classic British melodic-pop." Recorded in a beautiful studio overlooking a blue crystalline lake hidden away in the deep forests of Connecticut in 2008, a bit of magic happened. An unusually gorgeous and stunning collection of 6 songs came to life. "Mantra" is this debut from a genuine, authentic and visionary young artist.
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"Exquisite…steadfastly original." - Anne O' Neary, Music Connection Magazine
“Alluring...Makes a powerful first impression, and then, even better, a series of more complex and lasting ones.” - Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone
“Soulful voice…excellent songwriting…Superb.” - Mike Cavanaugh, All Access Magazine
“Utterly fantastic…One of the best female singer/songwriters that come across during my time in new media.” - Zack Daggy, The MothPod Podcast
“Devastatingly beautiful songs…sends chills up and down my spine…excellent songwriter, excellent singer.” -Steve Shapiro, UBL.com/ ArtistDirect.com
"An honesty and elegance rarely found."
-Marcy Drexler, National Academy of Popular Music, Songwriter's Hall of Fame
“Riveting…Young, talented performer…daring.”
-Mark Fogarty, Music Editor, brokeruniverse.com
"Pop music could very well have a new diva…original…great voice, great lyrics, great music.”-Michael Johnson, hotindienews.com
"New York City’s best kept singer-songwriter secret.” - Tom Semioli, Amplifier Magazine
“Simply wonderful. (Sheri’s) interview segment repeating on our online stream has maxed out a few times the past few days due to so many of (Sheri’s) fans trying to listen in.” - Michael McCartney, KEAO Hawaii (TimeMachine.fm)
“Sheri Miller delivers what so many only reach for: truly inspired, deeply personal, authentically original songs, delivered without pretense in a profound vocal style that transcends her young age. It's a rare gift to work with an artist of her caliber at the beginning of her career. Unless my long experience making records has taught me nothing, Sheri is someone we'll be listening to, and talking about, for a long, long time.”
-Ted Spencer, Legendary Engineer/Studio Owner,
Credits: Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Roberta Flack
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Sheri Miller is a NYC-based musician who writes melodic, poetic and catchy songs on piano and guitar with an "exquisite sensitivity..talent..and originality" (MUSIC CONNECTION MAGAZINE) with her soulful, inspiring and distinctly unique voice.
Sheri Miller was born in Long Island, New York, in an extremely musical and creative home. Her mother was an opera-singer and classical pianist, and her uncle was a recording engineer and guitarist, who worked with Chick Korea, James Brown, and Smokey Robinson. Sheri began taking classical piano lessons at an early age, but even then rebelled by composing her own original songs (which she has in a tattered, stapled looseleaf songbook of dozens of lyrics and melodies from age 8), rather than practicing her classical pieces. She also began teaching herself acoustic guitar, and singing along with Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Billie Holiday, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
While singing in local blues bands, writing songs secretly in her bedroom, and getting a degree in English/Poetry at U Penn, an incredible coincidence happened to Sheri. She began dreaming of a Casio Keyboard over many months, to help her write songs in her bedroom, instead of walking 20 minutes to the jazz piano practice room. One dreamy Sunday morning, after an especially vivid keyboard dream, Sheri took an alternate scenic path to the library, instead of her usual straight path. She passed by a 1-day church sale. To her amazement, she saw and bought the exact same buzzing Casio keyboard she had dreamt of the night before, for $20. This “gentle push” and “tiny miracle” naturally opened Sheri to writing songs on her new keyboard everyday, awakening her artistry.
Sheri further polished her artistry and songwriting voice by playing in venues like Rockwood Music Hall, Living Room, Canal Room, Joe’s Pub, Bowery Ballroom, World Café Live, and Hotel Cafe. Upon releasing her critically-acclaimed debut EP, “Mantra”, Sheri was asked to join a 4-part vocal harmony group, The Delilahs, which signed to Sony Music. Since leaving the group, Sheri has opened shows for Shawn Mullins, locally for Norah Jones and Lady Gaga, written with legendary writers J.D. Souther (Eagles), Marcus Hummon (Dixie Chicks), Al Anderson (NRBQ), Shawn Mullins, Jill Sobule, and Kim Richey. Sheri's new record, "Winning Hand," produced by Kevin Killen (U2, Peter Gabriel), features Will Lee (Fab Faux), Charley Drayton (Fiona Apple, Divinylis), and Gerry Leonard (David Bowie, Suzanne Vega), and will be released in 2011.
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First secret admission...I discovered the Beatles late. Well, at least a little bit later than the people who pretty much claim they were chilling in the womb listening to the White Album on tiny Sony headphones. Jon Brion changed my life one Friday night, about 10 years ago at Club Largo in Los Angeles, when he played some wildly gorgeous, intricate, dark, songs with Elliott Smith. I was too young and naive to even realize what I was witnessing. Fiona Apple is a true original and so self-possessed artistically. Love her. Anyone named Elvis. Stevie Wonder's music makes me want to get up, clap my hands, and sing in a gospel choir. He is the human form of joy. Johnny Cash is the closest thing we have to a modern-day American hero and reminds me in some ways of my cowboy grandfather, Barney, who wears sunglasses and boleros at age 93. Lucinda Williams' songs are so amazingly simple and direct (Essence record and "Sweet Old World") they make me want to take up a drug habit. Just kidding, mom. Bob Dylan is some sort of prophet in black sunglasses, who makes me want to read the Bible. Etta James is my biggest singing influence, God bless her. Rodgers & Hart (Bewitched, My Funny Valentine), Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Ron Sexsmith, The Stones, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Muddy Waters, Dinah Washington. I do love classical and jazz--I've been meaning to pour a midnight glass of red Shiraz and get deeper into Miles Davis. But, of course, Charles Bukowski's poetry, so raw and real and gross and delicate. What a beautiful monster man he was. Maya Angelou, who makes me want to crawl into golden-lit sunflower fields at dusk to write poetry as the sun fades into stardust. "The God of Small Things" tempts me to steal every line for a song. My tall and beautiful angels who protect me in their swirling white light. Dreaming and waking up in that groggy half-awake state, where the air is open and you can grab the little tiny particle things, the invisible beauty of creativity, passing by. Hopefully you'll touch inspiration. Even for just a moment.
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