Hard living put to rest for CD

Page 18

It's no surprise that songs from blues guitarist Derek Miller's new album, The Dirty Looks, are up for nomination at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards in Manitoba in November. The album's 12 cuts are rife with an emotional personal struggle that speaks to a new time in the life of the artist.

"Recording Dirty Looks was the hardest thing I have ever done," said Miller, who has been compared to legends Neil Young and Leonard Cohen. Promotional material for Dirty Looks tells us the Juno and NAMMY award-winning singer/songwriter locked himself away in a Winnipeg studio for six months of deep introspection about his "wild man ways." The Dirty Looks tracks were ripped from the guts of that tumult.

Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan inspire his blues fused with rock fused with Hank Williams Sr. sound. His sexy vocals won him acclaim in 2003 for Music Is The Medicine, which garnered a Juno Aboriginal Recording of the Year win. This new effort from the Mohawk from Six Nations is an infinitely better album, his song writing skills more developed, his sound more mature overall.

The Dirty Looks is Miller's story about the troubles that come with hard living, the good times he's experienced and the bad. (The track "Devil Came Down Sunday" was written in the 10 minutes following a near-death car mishap in the Ontario bush that almost took his life in the same way his father died.) For more information about Miller and his project visit www.derekmillermusic.com.