HOW TO GO
What: Scott Miller & The Commonwealth with The Okeanas
When: Thursday, Aug. 27, 6 – 10 p.m.
Where: RiversEdge Amphitheater, 116 Dayton St., downtown Hamilton
Admission: Free
More info: www.facebook.com/HamiltonRiversEdge
HAMILTON — Scott Miller & The Commonwealth will headline a 6 p.m. show Thursday, Aug. 27 at Hamilton’s RiversEdge Amphitheater.
We recently caught up with singer/songwriter Scott Miller to talk about the concert, his music and what life is like on the family farm.
“This show will be with Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, which is the full rock band. I used to tour with them more frequently, but since I’ve moved back to take over the farm, I don’t tour as much,” Miller said. “So, it’s only a certain few shows a year that we get the bus and the guys to go on the road, and this is one of those runs. It will be a lot of high energy and a lot of fun for us. I’m looking forward to it.
“It’s rare these days for the full Commonwealth band to play, for those who are fans. I used to play in this area with the band all the time. It’s been a while, so I hope I see a lot of friends and familiar faces.”
Much of Miller’s touring these days is with a trio – “Myself, a bass player and a fiddle player,” he said.
Miller said the band will perform a mix of songs – from The V-Roys tunes to some of his solo material.
“I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’ve got a lot of albums, and I like to sell them, so we’ll play a bunch of songs off of all the different projects,” he said.
Miller moved home a couple of years ago to take over the family cattle farm. He has also established a new touring base from his hometown of Staunton, Virg.
“The last five years have been such a life-change for me in many ways. I’m 47, and my parents are in their 80’s. My folks had me late,” he said. “I have a lot of older brothers and sisters, but none of them wanted to work on the farm. I love the farm and I love doing that.”
During the time of transition and scaled down touring, Miller has released his latest, studio solo CD, Big Big World from F.A.Y. Recordings. The 10-song project was produced by Doug Lancio. A few of the project’s standouts include “You Got Love,” “Heavy On My Mind,” “How Am I Ever Gonna Be Me?” and the title-track, “It’s a Big Big World.”
Miller also recently collaborated with filmmaker James Weems and photographer Glen Rose to produce a mini-documentary called Going Home, which explores Miller's personal and musical journey since he returned to the family farm. The project was produced last fall. For more about Going Home, visit https://youtu.be/DEqDhXwlCwE.
“If you ask my wife that was always in my plan. To be a songwriter in Tennessee, and to move back to Virginia to run the farm,” Miller said. “I wanted to go back there with more of a career under my belt. But, touring as a musician, and writing songs, I figured I could do that from anywhere. I also wasn’t quite prepared for the emotional weight of moving back home to where I grew up, which I hadn’t been there since high school. When I got out of high school, I left.”
Miller, who described himself as more of an introvert, said his music has impacted people all over the world. On a personal level, it brings relief and redemption.
“Being down in my basement with a guitar is more of my ‘happy place,’ ” he said.
As far as future endeavors, Miller said he’s been working on a new project with Scott Miller & The Commonwealth Ladies Auxiliary with fiddle player Rayna Gellert and bass player Bryn Davies, which is the three-piece he’s been touring with most recently.
“We are going to make a record, and it should be out in the spring,” Miller said.
“I’m a songwriter, so I have different styles for different songs. It could be straight-up rock, or something more Americana, or bluegrass, or whatever the song calls for. So, this next record, I’m really looking forward to, because it’s going to be a consistent sound throughout the whole thing. I’ve really never had a record like that,” he said.
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