If you know, you know. And what you know is that John R. Miller is one of the greatest songsmiths of this generation, tearing down highways to play for appreciative audiences, and making albums the right way for the right reasons. He might not be selling out arenas, but he’s a direct inspiration of guys like Tyler Childers who are, and brings that authentic West Virginia perspective to everything he does.
What he’s been doing lately is putting the finishing touches on his latest album called The Great Unknowing, set to be released June 5th on physical formats, and distributed digitally on July 17th by Rounder Records. But this one wasn’t cut in Appalachia or even Nashville. To try and find a renewed vigor behind his music, John R. Miller ventured to Tulsa, Oklahoma to record.
Working with his long-time collaborator/co-producer Adam Meisterhans, they set up shop at Leon Russell’s legendary Church Studio in Tulsa, and solicited the services of some of the town’s top talent, including keys player John Fullbright, steel player Muskrat Jones, along with Paddy Ryan, Aaron Boehler, and others.
“Immediately the gears started turning,” John R. Miller says. “Tulsa is one of the great legacy-bearing cities of American music—J.J. Cale is one of my all-time favorites, and Shelter Records was based there. So much of what I love in music history happened right around that block.”
When Miller released the first single from the album called “A World Away” in early January, he might have spooked a few listeners with the song’s fuzzy, rock-oriented production, even if its underlying appeal was still strong. The next single “If You Could Only See Me Now” was super country, and probably the most twangy track of his career.
Accompanying the album announcement, Miller has released another song from the album called “Tollbooth” (listen below). Miller says about it, “You tend to explore that territory in songs when you’re doing it a lot, but some of them, like ‘Tollbooth,’ seem to be more about witnessing American decay. It can be hard to notice changes as they happen when you’re living in a place, but when you revisit the same places over time, you get a sense for how the landscape is shifting, both literally and figuratively.”
Miller also says that the reason for the physical-only release to start off is to try and encourage people to seek out their local record stores. “Maybe I’m a romantic, but I want to see the places I love, brick-and-mortar shops you can walk into with music and books and art made by humans, continue to exist into the future, and I want the culture around these places to thrive with diverse thought and taste.”
However you wish to consume The Great Unknowing, you can find the appropriate pre-order link by CLICKING HERE.
TRACK LIST:
1. Don’t Bet On Me (John R. Miller)
2. Far From The Station (John R. Miller)
3. Tollbooth (John R. Miller)
4. Think I’ll Start Over (John R. Miller)
5. Looking For A Place To Die (John R. Miller)
6. Steering Wheel Drums (John R. Miller)
7. Daughter of Night (John R. Miller)
8. A World Away (Darrin Hacquard)
9. Day Drinking (John R. Miller)
10. Golden Light (Dan Baird)
11. Two Days Clean (John R. Miller)
12. If You Could Only See Me Now (William Matheny)
13. Double Lives (John R. Miller)
14. Static and White Noise (John R. Miller)
15. Cornbread and Pinto Beans (John R. Miller)
16. Walk of Life (Mark Knopfler)
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source savingcountrymusic.com ’
