JC Miller - Before Nightfall
Americana / southern rock stalwart JC Miller presents his new single 'Before Nightfall', released via American indie imprint Tilt Records. The Detroit-born guitarist and songwriter, now based in Southern California, has always been a searcher, long driven and inspired by vintage Americana. On this new offering, he explores the atmosphere and mood of history in a tremendously catchy track.
Evoking a grounded sense of place through his music, Miller's music has a Southern-fried edge and a transportive authenticity. He makes songs that feel at home in neon-lit diners, long highway drives, desert expanses, and sun-soaked small towns.
A prolific artist, his output is a product of his partnership and friendship with iconic musician-producer Marty Rifkin, known for his work with Tom Petty, Glen Campbell and Jewel, and also as a member of Bruce Springsteen's The Sessions Band on pedal steel guitar.
"The lyrics for 'Before Nightfall' are rooted in The Santa Fe Trails Diaries. I do a lot of deep-dive research for the themes in the songs, mostly in the history department. I try to make the songs land “vintage on arrival -- inevitable rather than arbitrary” – couched in real history, even though I may have to imagine and guess," explains JC Miller.
"In The Santa Fe Diaries, there is a section described in detail with a looming storm in the distance – it was so visceral and immediate, I was enraptured. Felt like I was there even though it was centuries ago. The writing allowed me to travel through time. The starkness of the diary entries brought real lost events to contemporary life".
Creating music for wanderers, Miller pays homage to his guitar and songwriting heroes, inspired by timeless artists like Neil Young, Leon Russell and The Band as much as the unfussy yet powerful prose of writers like Larry McMurtry, Ernest Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy.
“I’m not trying to hide my sources. I’m trying to add footnotes, carry on the southern and western, southwestern frame of mind," says JC Miller.
Under his solo moniker, making music is a labor of love for JC Miller, having earlier spent most of his career as a sideman and composer in the advertising world for clients like Coca-Cola, Nike and Levi’s. His songs are exercises in the journey to self-discovery, created with real instruments and authentic sounds with a unique contemporary twist.
Creating music that values timelessness over virtuosity, JC Miller traverses his own histories and the roots of Americana, often revealing truths about the history of his own family and country as a whole. Music became about rediscovering his family’s history by exploring America and, in turn, becoming a source of unearthing insight about himself.
With these songs, JC Miller is carrying on a tradition of American songwriting and creating guitar literature that is never ephemeral, evoking a classic sense of place and historical context. He admits, “I feel like I am representing another generation of storytellers. I’m trying to paint a picture through music, where the lens is focused on the deeply personal, but it can also be universal.”
As of June 7, 'Before Nightfall' will be available everywhere online, including Spotify, Apple Music and elsewhere.
