John R Miller – Depreciated - Listening Through The Lens

Posted on May 14, 2021 in New Releases

New album John R Miller

John R Miller – Solo Debut

‘Depreciated’

Out July 16, 2021

Emerging Nashville-based singer-songwriter and guitarist John R. Miller has announced his debut solo album Depreciated, to be released July 16 Rounder Records. Miller also announced tour dates throughout July and August (see link below).

Miller has also debuted a rich and layered album track “Shenandoah Shakedown”. Discussing the song, Miller says: “At some point or another we all confuse attachment for love, and probably stay in a relationship long past its expiration date. In this song the narrator dwells, in hallucinatory fragments, on one such relationship after its end, framed by the imposing-yet-comforting presence of the Shenandoah River.”

Depreciated attracted multiple Grammy nominee Justin Francis (Leon Bridges, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price) and renowned guitarist Adam Meisterhans to produce the album. Miller was signed after a moment of industry serendipity: another producer walked past the studio where Francis was mixing the album, and was so impressed with what he heard that he passed the music on to an A&R person for Concord.

John Strohm, President, Rounder Records, stated: “We at Rounder are so proud to work with John R. Miller. His wry, unassuming songwriting voice belies a profound insight into the struggle and sacrifice of a drifter’s life. He’s an extraordinary storyteller in the tradition of great American singers/writers such as John Prine, Guy Clark, and Mickey Newbury, and we believe he will develop into one of the leading voices of his own generation.”

Miller began playing music as a young teenager in a tight-knit DIY scene in West Virginia. Miller’s first band was a punk quartet he and his friends formed at 14 years old. They would rent out church halls and Ruritan clubs to put on shows since they were not old enough to perform in bars. Before long, he gravitated toward folk and country music, which ignited a burning desire to travel as a touring musician and eventually drove him to quit school. He busked with a string band to earn a living and traveled to D.C., New York, and Knoxville, and would pen his own songs in his downtime. He spent the next 15 years as a touring musician, both leading bands and playing as a side man and bass player for a litany of other songwriters including the Hackensaw Boys, Sierra Ferrell, and J.P. Harris.

Life on the road began to take its toll and became the catalyst for his move to Nashville. After Miller found himself waking up every morning with a glass of vodka in his hand to start the day, he realized that he needed a fresh start. That epiphany inspired his move to Nashville, where he knew that he could maintain his sobriety as he continued to earn a living as a musician. He recalls, “Heavy touring life took a toll on my health and I used drinking to soften the blows, which eventually spiraled to a bottom point. I decided I had to take control of my life so I sobered up and moved from West Virginia to Nashville in 2017 to start over, and began making music and touring under my own name.”

Depreciated will be released July 16 on Rounder Records. To know more about John R. Miller, go to his website here.

‘Depreciated’ Tracklist