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A FEW
WORDS on MIKEL MILLER
Miller's been travelin'' down this ROUNDERS' ROAD since before it got paved.
He knows all the best truckstops - knows most of the waitresses by name,
too. Along the way, the ROAD's managed to bury a couple of his $400 chevy's,
as well as Miller's '74 Pontiac Parisienne ambulance,complete with siren and
flashing lights. But it's only managed to scruff
Miller up a little more. No big deal. The journey's been mostly about music,
though late night storytelling, lie swapping and buffalo wrangling do enter
the mix. Mostly, Miller collects
characters,crackpots and dinosaurs - framed in places and times much more
interesting than the unforgiving here and now. Then he sings about them.
From a personal point of view, Miller appears in my life now and then, like
Halley's Comet, although a little more frequently. He reminds me about the
sacred trust we balladeers share. There is more truth in the lines of one
heartfelt song than in all print and electronic media posturing that
permeates our lives. His music makes me laugh and cry and he honours me by
inviting me to sing with him on this new album. As the last mixes are done,
Miller grows even more restless to leave Toronto for Whitehorse, and I once
again prepare to wish him Godspeed. Good visit. Great album! Many more
stories for the long in between.
-Norm Hacking
A ROAD story
Summer '98, ramblin' round in my new/old chevy, first long trip in awhile.
Felt great to travel, feel the road 'neath the wheels, sing my songs,
remember ol' tunes, meet new people and get some new stories to tell. Even
met some some folks from the early days, still out there and
bein' - good one's. While in Toronto, sweatin' to death, I decided to try
and record another album, so, with Kevin Bell beside me we got a drummer,
bass player, rehearsed twice, looked at each other and said"lets de 'er!".
Hack came along to sing one with me and donate others.We played, listened,
did some again and in 3 weeks we had 'er. We overdubbed very little on this
one, brought Marie, Frank and Jerry in to round things off. I tried to keep
things loose and fun with a live feel. Whether we achieved it only you can
tell us that. I chose songs old & new, Some mine, some not, but tunes that
felt right and summed up my
feelin's of this year of travelin', singin' on street corners (at times), in
coffeehouses, at concerts and in a few bars. These are songs that have bin
in my repertoire that I wanted to record and the timing was right (for a
change), so I took the chance, cuz it might never happen again.....now I
just gotta figure out how to pay for it - ahh, we'll fix it in de mix...I
know, I gotta start thinkin' 'bout the little details, some things are just
harder to learn than others.
- Miller
MIKEL MILLER acoustic guitar, vocals
KEVIN BELL electric & acoustic guitar, vocals
JOHN YELLAND bass
ROB ANDREWS drums
FRANK BARTH dobro
MARIE GOGO vocals
JERRY TUPIS vocals
RENATA exquisite whine
ABOUT the SONGS
HAND IN THE GAME - written after a late nite conversation with Hack, sumthin'
bout love & music, so intertwined at times we miss the connection.
THE COMPROMISE - written with Hack after way too many cappacino's one mornin'
and talkin' 'bout our favourite topic...women!...remember humour?
MY SWEET ALBERTA HOME - original title "My Sweet Wyoming Home", by Bill
Staines. I passed throu' Wyoming once, gee, not like me to change the words,
not at all.
SOMETHING YOU NEVER KNEW - well,now you do!
BETWEEN THE BOURBON AND THE RAIN - by Norm Hacking (Hack). Too many
times have I found myself there.
SINGIN' THE DINOSAUR BLUES - written by Steve Fromholz of Austin Texas
(passed throu' there once too) can be found on his album,"Old Fart in the
Mirror".There's more of us out there than first reported. Can't let 'em stop
me now
I'LL BE HERE IN THE MORNING - written by Townes Van Zandt...I'll say no more
cuz no more needs to be said.
PIDGEON PARK - Ken Losell brought this song to me back in '71, I added a
verse from my time livin' in a boxcar behind the Gastown Saloon (long gone)
-song was revelant then, more so now - go figure!
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE - a song by Skip Ewing. To the Lukes all over
this country that I have met, you reinforced my beliefs.
THE HARD ON BLUES * - (a temporary condition) written in Canmore,
Alberta,after fallin' down the Three Sisters,celebrating a divorce of
something,s tarted singin' de blues but my
guardian angel changed de words mid-song. One of Amy's favs-- for you babe.
YOU GOTTA LOOK A LITTLE HARDER NOW -by Hack, sung with Hack...two buffalos
havin' fun. Like the title, you have to look...
LEAH'S SONG - This summer the kid and I grew a lot closer,first time in
years and it felt great.I love you Sunshine.They say you're getting to be
more like your ol' man every year - pretty scary but lots of fun - don't let
'em slow you down kiddo!
NO MORE TRAINS - They used to take me everywhere.In Canada,the trains are
few and far between,a way of life is changed forever.
MAYBE NEXT TIME - Thumbin' in the rain,something I promised myself I would
cut back on...oh well....maybe next time I may know better,maybe its
something I never knew...ain't life grand.
WHEN VAUDEVILLE WAS THE RAGE - first time I heard Hack sing this was while
busking down in Kew Beach in Toronto,sitting on a park bench under the trees
just as nite was callin',the words made me shiver in a good way,had to get
it on this record,it fit....thanx Hack.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Mikel Miller
PRODUCED
by Mikel Miller, Kevin Bell & Jerry Tupis
ENGINEERED
by Jerry Tupis
RECORDED
at SoundAround Inc., Toronto
MIXED
by Jerry Tupis, Mikel Miller & Kevin Bell
MASTERED
at E=MC2 byGeorge Guerra with Jerry Tupis & Mikel Miller
COVER PHOTO
by Bill Hall
LAYOUT & DESIGN
knotDAwyfe Productions
Amy Mallatratt
some VERY IMPORTANT thank yous
- To KEVIN, JOHN, ROB, MARIE and FRANK for coming on board and now
waiting patiently in line.
- To JERRY TUPIS of SOUNDAROUND INC,for the studio that reminded me of a
cabin in de north, made me feel relaxed, good ears and bad puns. I'm
glad you took a chance on me and let us in to do this recording, for the
vocals on The Compromise and Jerry, I will try to get back for anudder
go 'round. In this crazy life, one never knows, do one?
- To RENATA for de most exquisite whine and words I've heard all my life
and probably will continue to hear.
- To AMY - (1), for pushin' me outta the door and (2) for not changin'
de locks - "You make me give a damn 'bout comin' back home". That's a
new one on me.
- For my daughter LEAH, for the summer of smiles,laughs,coming out to
your ol' man's gigs and understandin' bout what makes the ol' man tick.
ATTITUDE & HUMOUR kiddo,will get you into more fun/trouble,but it's well
worth it,trust me.You will find your road - don't let others drive is
the trick!. I LOVE YOU.
- For my friend NORM HACKING, words are hard to find at times but this
summer I'm glad we renewed our friendship, sang together, shared the stage,
wrote a song together, shared a few drinks, lots of late nites & early
mornin's, long talks, the intro and most of all,laughin'
together, even thou' this ol' life keeps throwin' little spins at us, that
we can do without thank you very much! You have rekindled a fire inside me
'bout this whole muzic bidness a fire that at times gets too low and for
this,a tip of my hat goes to you. Thanx for the song as I was walkin' out
the door to head back north, the words have touched the way I hoped, you
made some eyes grow damp with your words, this in turn keeps me in good
stead....God walk with you my friend. ..ps - send more tunes.
- Last, to THE FOLKS of this road I travel, your laughs & smiles make it all
worthwhile with no regrets, a few misgivings maybe, but,no regrets. It is to
you that I promise to keep travelin', tellin' lies, spendin' my money
foolishly, stayin' up late, laughin' too loud, gettin' sidetracked
and collectin' stories and makin' them into songs just to sing back to you.
I thank you for letting me be the fool that I am and always will be.
ps.- to my guardian angel, you can take that vacation...for now... but
remember to keep that cell phone charged.
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