Leroy Miller Music

Last nights was the final "Live From Nashville" show. This is not the end of the show though...  Let me just reflect a little bit on how it all came to be. I came up with the idea of doing a internet show after I couldn't even get a response from any of the clubs here in Nashville about doing my show live in a club setting. I thought "fuck you... I do it my self, out of my own studio". I've always had a presents on YouTube going back over 4 years and to date I've had millions of views from all the videos other people or myself have posted of my songs. The song that's had the most views by far is "Good Time". I had been looking into streaming live for a while but really had no clue of how to do it. After stumbling onto Ustream I started playing around with the basic Ustream broadcaster and my MacBook. As with anything I do, it starts out slow and builds into a obsession. By the time I was ready to go live I was using 3 cameras with a custom built super computer running professional broadcasting and audio software. I only had one issue... How was I going to run everything while I was performing. About that time I was talking to my neighbor Steve Ledet a sound engineer working for a band out of Nashville about what I wanted to do and he casually said to me in a southern accent  "if you need anyone to run your cameras let me know". It was like god had just brought him to me. The timing was perfect. I'm not a religious man but I do believe in the powers of the universe and positive thinking!  A few days later Steve and I started putting together the whole studio with a green screen, lighting, wireless In Ear Monitoring system everything that would be needed to go live we made happen. This was a very exciting period because everything was new and challenging! We broadcasted the first show on 02/17/11 and did one every week up until last night 05/05/11 for a total of 12 shows in all. One week we did two shows in one day. We broadcasted one at 12:00pm for people in Europe and one at 8pm for the US. That was a long but fun day! Since I started broadcasting my show to the internet I've learned so much about myself as a performer and as a person. It's been a really rewarding experience. I can say that this has been the most fun I've ever had performing. It hard to believe that playing in front of a few cameras could be fulfilling but the one thing I can tell you is a gig is a gig anyway you look at it. If it gets your blood pumping then it's real! The one thing that is unique about doing a internet gig is that you are playing for people all around the world all at once. This is very powerful. Let me tell you... this is the future, "trust me"! My next phase in this journey is to create all new ways to do the internet show. I want to do it in front of a live audience, at different locations, with different concepts, the sky's the limit. What ever your imagination can create you can achieve! What is the future for the show? I will be starting up a new season in a few weeks. I'm moving venues and changing the name to "Leroy Miller Live". The first show I'm planning will be in front of a live audience in a really cool setting, not a club environment. I'm tired of playing in shitty clubs with no control over the experience from the listeners point of view. It's a brave new world out there and anything goes. As long as it fun, sounds great and the audience is in a special environment I can't see it not being a great thing. My goal is to give the listener a opportunity to experience something special and different, not your typical show that everybody is so used to attending. I see it as a totally new venue for me! Who knows maybe you'll be lucky enough to get invited!  If not no worries your can watch in on line! 

In conclusion I want to say thanks to all of you that took the time to watch my show and let me express myself the best way I can, through my music! Stay tuned for the next show dates as I will be announcing them in the next few weeks.

Peace,

Leroy

First... I want to say thank you to everyone that has been watching my show on Ustream, I love you guys! I've been having such a great time doing this and last nights show for me was one to put in the books for one reason... the groove. In last weeks blog I went into detail about how important it is to find a good pocket when playing to a backing track. It's a weird thing, you might think that your nailing it while you are playing but when you listen back to the recording it's something entirely different. I have a theory about this. I mentioned in last weeks blog it's all about the proximity and how your brain processes the information thats its receiving. It's a very strange thing and I find it quite interesting! It's like a "mental ego" trip. Your brain is telling you one thing but the reality is something different. I'm very interested in this "mental ego" trip and understanding how it affects your performance. This is something that exists with everything you do in life. If you were a carpenter and you thought the house you built was perfect you would be baffled if the first time it rained the roof leaked. You would think I built this house and I know I nailed it tight. It's all "mental ego" you don't really know the reality until it's a thing of the past. Only now can you analyze it and call it for what it is. This is why some things just work or resonate while other things just fail and fall flat in comparison. When I started the show last night the first thing I noticed was my in-ear monitors were way to fucking loud! This is very distracting actually. I started to play wrong chords and had to really focus on getting back on track. During sound check my "mental ego" told me the volume was perfect, but that was not the case. No big deal I eventually got a chance to turn it down a little and started to feel comfortable mid way through the second song called "Love Me Everyday". From this point on I was pretty happy with the show. I made a few little mistakes but no big deal. There was a funny thing that did happen while I was doing my scene change when I transform my image from the classic suit look to the rock and roll pimp! This is where I put in a little visual section where my director/engineer Steve Ledet gets to do a "solo"!!!! It's like a little VJ section while I change clothes. Last week I felt it was way too long so I cut it down to about one minute. At some point it starts the song "Make It Right" and I was not ready!!!! I hurried and just barley made it into the scene to start the song. It was actually fun to be pushed a little. After the show the first thing I said to engineer Steve was "I had fun but I felt very loose to me, almost sloppy". I went on a rant about how I had no time to rehearse or work on this weeks show because I've been working around the clock on the new album! Steve then said that he thought it was pretty good over all and that I seemed more relaxed than usual. Next we loaded up the video to watch and critique. After watching the video I noticed two things. First...  I was right about how I felt halfway through the second song. I really started to feel comfortable and you can hear it. The second thing was how good the groove was.  I was thinking wow this sounds so much better than I thought it was sounding while I was doing it. My "mental ego" was mind fucking me into thinking I was sloppy and loose while in the end the groove and pocket was really good. I can remember being on the road with like 7 shows in a row to do night after night with the flu, burnt out and would think I can't do it, but when it was show time something would just happen. The show would be great! I've always called this the "real deal". When your beat up and backed into a corner your best stuff always comes out. When your feeling rested and healthy you almost become stale and trite. In the face of adversity man kind will always find the best it can be. This holds true in art as well. The best songs always get written after something really bad or tragic happens to you. I my case in last nights show it was the best pocket I've heard from any of the shows so far. So there you have it, the morel of this blog is to just do your thing and let it all hang out because you'll never know what really is happening until it's done. Oh and don't let "mental ego" mind fuck you...

peace,

Leroy   

This is the first Live From Nashville concert blog and let me just go on record and say that last nights show was fucking blistering to say the least! I rarely say things like that about my performances but last night was something I've been wanting to tap into for a long time. First I must say that starting from the very beginning when I streamed my first LFN show on 02/17/11 I was so excited to do it that I could hardly contain myself. It showed in the performance too! I was nervous, excited and was wondering how many people would actually watch the show. My original goal was to have 25 viewers and I met that goal! My performance on the first show was very exaggerated and I didn't do as well as I wanted but I knew after that first show that this was something totally new to me as a performer. There's a huge difference between playing on a big stage in front of a live audience with a live band with a powerful sound system than doing a show in front of 3 webcams, bright lights and a pre-recorded backing track in a very small area. The main difference is the proximity. With a live band in front of a live audience you can get away with a lot more. If your vocals are a little pitchy or your guitar is a little out of tune or maybe your a little out of grove nobody can really tell because it's so loud and in your face. We've all seen shitty bands where the crowd is going crazy. Doing a web concert is a totally different world. There's no audience to feed off of and there's no loud sound system where I can feel the music and most importantly there's no live band to back me up and follow my lead. I have to follow the backing track perfectly or else it sounds bad. This is something that takes a little time to get used to. If you get off beat a little the backing track does not wait for you like a live band it just keeps on rolling like a freight train with a train wreck always on the horizon! Proximity comes into play a great deal more when your mix is going directly to the internet. Every sound you make is heard perfectly on the listeners computer and there's no room for error. If your out of tune it's awful! Believe me I've learned this the hard way... After doing a few shows I started to get a feel for the "internet concert" vibe and my shows are starting to get tighter and now I'm able to relax and have a good time while performing! Last nights show on 04/21/11 was a combination of all the things I've been doing on the show that have worked for me since I started streaming on the internet. I've picked out all the things that were working and put them into one set. If you know anything about me and my music you'll know that I don't really fit into any one box. I do what ever I want musically and stylistically with my image. I've been criticized for this many times by people who "work in the music industry" Yet I've managed to make a living for over 15 years doing what ever I want and it has also allowed me to develop as an artist and not get pigeon holed into one specific sound. Boring!!!! Last nights show started with a "Walla Walla" (my first independent CD) influenced sound. "Walla Walla" is a more acoustic sound and is all about the melody and harmony mixed with a little country rock and a funky groove. I was listening to a lot of Little Feat when I recorded that record and Lowell George was my God! I ended the "Walla Walla" segment with a new song called "One Woman One Man" a song about monogamy which has always been something that I've believed in. I'm really into truth and commitment in all areas of my life. The second segment of last nights show was inspired by my "Super Funk" set that I did on 03/24/11. This is the freaky side of my music heavily inspired by artists like Sly and the Family Stone, Price, and Parliament Funkadelic. It's all about the groove, being a little freaky and having a sexy good time! Oh and breaking out the Wah Wah pedal!!! Thank you God for the Wah Wah pedal!!! During this segment I wanted to change from the classic black suit look into somethang a little freakier. Thus the faux fur coat and skin tight pants were a must! This was something that I have to figure how to do during the show without any pause in the momentum of the show, so I came up with a idea. I would do a Terence McKenna tribute! I decided to take a small musical portion of the next song called "Make It Right" and loop it with a sample of a Terence McKenna lecturer which is super freaky to say the least but also very intelligent. This gave me a few minutes to change clothes and set up the mood to get freaky and funky! This segment melts into the final segment where I'm half naked and just breaking it down to a raw power trio type of sound. I loved this sound so much, it reminds of growing up as a kid in Spokane Washington. All in all last nights show was my favorite because of the freedom that I had to do what ever the hell I want, it did something for me that will forever change the way that perform. By taking chances going to the edge and letting it all hang out you learn a little bit about yourself and it fuels the fire to keep going and keep being creative. This type of process will always lead you to something great. The record companies of the past tried so hard to keep this type of mentality down because of their fear not making money. You see... I grew up in the golden age of Rock and Roll where bands/artist like Led Zeppelin, Rush, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Travers, ZZ Top, Little Feat the list goes on and on did "their own thing" and the music is the end result of that dynamic. It still sounds great today! This is where the "music industry" made a big mistake. They saw that a certain song/sound would react with the fans and they would only want that sound over and over. This was the beginning of the end for the big record companies. Now don't get me wrong not all bands had to go though this but most did and all the money and attention from the record companies would go to the bands that had the "favor of the week" sound. Well now look at the record business... it over... Some blame the internet, what ever... the record companies had the last 15 years to figure it out and chose to ignore it and now it's to late... To bad suckers it's our music business now!!! Good or bad it's all in the hands of the artist. We are re-writing the rule book on how to connect with our audience and how to produce and distribute our music. There is no more "you need to sound like this" to make it in music. It's all about finding new and innovative ways make ART! Well that's it for my first concert blog it was long I know but hey... I've got a lot to say. Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter  and don't forget to visit my store and check out my CD's and T-shirts for sale! One more thing... let me know what you think by leaving a comment. See you next Friday for another concert blog.

peace,

Leroy        

As you must know by now I'm streaming live every Thursday night on Ustream. Of course you know... right? Well anyway... after every show my director/engineer Steve Ledet and I crack a cold one and watch the show. We critique everything about the show and try to come up with new things to do for the next one. This process is very beneficial and usually humbling. We pick out all the good things about the show and work on ways to do more of the "good things". Painfully all the bad things we see as well and we just try not to do them anymore. So this got me thinking, I want to write a blog after every show to let you know how I felt about the show and what I'm feeling as I'm doing these internet concerts. So look for my concert blogs every Friday right here in the blog section. Please let me know what you think too by posting your own comments about the show. I want to know what you think!

Peace,

Leroy

Thank you to everyone for all the support you have given me! My show on Ustream has been incredibly rewarding and is introducing me to many new fans all around the world and has reconnected me with fans from my past. It's a new world we live in and technology has allowed us to reach out to so many people instantly! I've been working on putting out some new music which will be available in June 2011! It's been a long time since I've put something new out but the time just never felt right. I believe that you should only put out new music when you feel it in your soul. I don't like it when something feels forced. It just seems contrived and never leads to anything great! There's a few new things in the works as well like a documentary on my life as a musician and a live show that will blow your minds! Stay tuned friends!

The first live broadcast on Ustream was a huge success! You guys made it the #2 most viewed music broadcast of the night! I put a lot of heart and soul into this and it exceeded my expectations! I had a really great time doing it and I'm really excited for the next show on 02/24/11 8/11pm PT/ET. So be sure to tune in next week and hit me up on the chat line! 

Leroy

Leroy Miller "Live From Nashville" will be streaming every Thursday night at 8/11PM PT/ET starting 02/17/11. It's a live 30 minute set featuring songs from all my CD's and a few unreleased songs as well! The chat lines will be open so come say hi and get READY TO ROCK! 

I've finally got on Twitter, so hit me up a @Leroy__Miller. 

Keep an eye out over the next few days for a big announcement...

Leroy

Well it's that time of the year... I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are getting ready for the Holidays! I will be heading back to Los Angeles to hang with family and friends for the holidays! I just finished co-writing and producing the incredible new single for David Martinez called "Hey Mary" to be released in December so be sure to pick it up! I'm also in the final stages of the debut EP release for a great new band called Bandicoot which Ken Coomer and I are co-producing with Bandicoot's main writer and lead singer Sarah Hays. Well that's it for now. I hope you all have safe holidays and a Happy New Year!

Peace,

Leroy  

What's up world? I'm all moved in here in Nashville and I've got my studio up and running! I've just got to do a few shout outs to my endorsors. Fender Musical Instruments you are THE BEST. Open Labs thank you for making such an incredible instrument for people like me to create amazing music on. Also I want to thank Fractal Audio for making the AXE FX ULTRA the most amazing guitar amp ever made. 

So... to rap things up here, if your in need of some recording and want to work with "ME":) shoot me an email over on my contact page. Use the "Musicians Contact" email please.

Peace,

Leroy

Well after a very good run in the city of angels I've decided to move to greener pastures, Nashville TN! I've been here a few times in the past working and always loved its laid back vibe and genuine people! Not to mention the music scene is great!!! I'm writing, recording and of course playing out live. I'm in the process of putting together a full band, so if you know of any great players here in Nashville that want to rock and take it out on the road send me a email on my contact page. Pro level players only please!!!!!! 

Peace,

Leroy

I just wanted to do a quick blog about the Crocs Cares humanitarian effort. They're giving 2.6 MILLION pairs of shoes to people in need all around the world! This is huge folks... I'm very happy to be involved with this. Ken Coomer from Wilco and myself wrote the beautiful song called "WHY" used it the promo video for this effort and will be giving half the money made selling downloads to the Heifer Foundation so lets give back a little something!

Peace,

Leroy