Audiogon, meet Buddy Miller.


 

Some of you may be familiar with the name, others not. Buddy is very active in what is referred to as the Americana genre. That just means all things American: Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, Jump Blues, Folk, Hillbilly, Country & Western, Bluegrass, Rockabilly, Rock ’n’ Roll (the "real" stuff, from the 1950’s), Tin Pan Alley, Power Pop, Singer/Songwriter, even Jazz (though to a lesser degree). Perhaps most importantly, it’s practitioners make their music with art given priority over it’s commercial potential. Very little of it ever makes it onto radio or TV, and spreads mostly by word-of-mouth, including here on Audiogon.

Buddy is a solo artist with a bunch of albums to his credit, as well as partner with his singer/songwriter wife Julie Miller (who, like Buddy, Sam Phillips, and Sam’s ex-husband T Bone Burnett, came to Secular Music from the world of Contemporary Christian Music. Don’t let that scare you off! 😉 ). Buddy and Julie also have a number of albums made together, most of the songs written by Julie.

Buddy has also serves as Emmylou Harris’ guitarist, harmony singer, bandleader, and sometimes producer. He has also produced a number of other superior artists, including Robert Plant, Richard Thompson, Solomon Burke, The War & Treaty (Michael & Tanya Trotter), Ralph Stanley, Loretta Lynn, Allison Moorer, Shawn Colvin, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Greg Trooper, and The Wood Brothers. He does a lot of his recording in his home studio, which takes up the entire bottom floor of his Victorian house in Nashville.

 

Here’s a video interview of Buddy done in his studio:

 

https://youtu.be/9_IBN4hLSS4?si=pNAP9VdB27t2b6ri

 

And here’s another interview regarding his guitar and amp gear:

 

https://youtu.be/5EooxUCzV20?si=bcqtqQFy6kwcpV7L

 

 

 

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@bdp24 

Mama mia;  that's an amazing range of tones he gets out of that Italian guitar...

I was lucky to see him live up close years ago at a small music festival here in NFla.....great talent and great records 

I saw him on a tour called Three Girls and Their Buddy (I think that was the name).  It had Emmylou, Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin.  Needless to say, it was outstanding.  I think the show was rescheduled because Buddy had a heart attack.

The videos were really great- thanks for the introduction to Buddy, his legacy, and his gear- all most impressive. I loved the Hofner guitar!

And for the guitar players out there, I googled Scott Baxendale - here is a link to his work restoring and greatly improving old Harmony and Kay guitars:

https://staygoldguitars.com/collections/baxendale-conversion

Considering the age of those guitars and his labor to convert them, his prices seem very fair. JMHO. I have no affiliation with him other than envy.