Allison Miller (drummer)
{{short description|American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Allison Miller
| image = alison-miller_sh.jpg
| alt = Photograph of a female drummer in performance
| caption = Miller performing in 2015
| origin = New York City
| genre = jazz, folk, rock, pop
| years_active = 1999–present
| website = [http://www.allisonmiller.com/ allisonmiller.com]
| associated_acts = Honey Ear Trio, Erin McKeown, Agrazing Maze
}}
Allison Miller (born 1974 or 1975){{Cite web|title=Honey Ear Trio|url=http://www.honeyeartrio.com/press/article/141|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.honeyeartrio.com|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073533/http://www.honeyeartrio.com/press/article/141|url-status=dead}} is an American, New York City-based drummer, composer, and teacher.
Early life
Miller is descended from a long line of musicians on the maternal side of her family. Her grandmother was a professional organist in Oklahoma, whose sister was a professional singer. Her mother is a classical pianist and choral director. Miller has a cousin who she described as "a very famous opera singer".{{cite web |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/allison-miller-breaking-ground-allison-miller-by-franz-a-matzner.php |title=Allison Miller: Breaking Ground |last=Matzner |first=Franz A. |date=May 17, 2010 |website=All About Jazz |access-date=November 21, 2020}}
Miller was raised in the Washington, D.C. area, and began playing drums at the age of 10, studying with Walter Salb. She attended West Virginia University.
Career
File:Allison Miller drums.jpg, Half Moon Bay, California, April 2016]]
5 years after graduating from West Virginia University, she moved to New York City to study with Michael Carvin and Lenny White, and began her career as a freelance drummer. Because of this, she's earned gigs with artists like Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile, and more. She has also worked as a producer, composer, and teacher.
She has recorded six albums as a leader: 5 AM Stroll, Boom Tic Boom, No Morphine-No Lilies, Live at Willisau, Otis Was a Polar Bear, and Glitter Wolf as well as working as a session musician. Her work with bands have included Honey Ear Trio with Rene Hart and Erik Lawrence, Holler and Bam with Toshi Reagon, and her own band, Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom, composed of Todd Sickafoose, Marty Ehrlich, and Dan Tepfer.{{cite web|last1=Zigman|first1=Joelle|title=Interview with Celebrity Drummer Allison Miller|url=http://www.dapperq.com/2013/01/interview-with-celebrity-drummer-allison-miller/|website=DapperQ.com| date=January 31, 2013 |accessdate=30 May 2015}}
Miller has performed with songwriting vocalists Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, and Erin McKeown, and toured with avant-garde saxophonist Marty Ehrlich, organist Doctor Lonnie Smith and folk-rock singer Brandi Carlile.
{{cite web|title=Musician Profile: Allison Miller|url=http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/allisonmiller |author= |website=All About Jazz|access-date=November 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101807/http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/allisonmiller |archive-date=July 8, 2014 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Ring |first=Trudy |date=February 12, 2014 |url=https://www.pride.com/who-f/2014/02/12/who-f-%E2%80%A6-drummer-allison-miller|title=Who the F Is … Drummer Allison Miller?|access-date=November 21, 2020|language=en}}
{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Andrew |date=April 5, 2013 |title=Jazz drummer Allison Miller speaks her mind |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2013/04/05/jazz-drummer-allison-miller-speaks-her-mind/ |work=The Mercury News |location=San Jose, California |access-date=November 21, 2020}}
Some of Miller's music has been featured in Showtime series, "The L Word". She is also a three-time Jazz Ambassador for the United States State Department, having traveled to East Africa, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia.
{{cite web|title=Musician Profile: Allison Miller|url=http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/allisonmiller |author= |website=All About Jazz|access-date=November 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101807/http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/allisonmiller |archive-date=July 8, 2014 |url-status=dead}}
Personal life
Miller identifies as a lesbian. In 2013, she contributed an essay to The Huffington Post describing her coming out process and her experiences as a female, lesbian, and feminist in the male-dominated jazz world.{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Allison |date=February 26, 2013 |title='You Don't Play Like a Girl': Queer in a Jazz World |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/you-dont-play-like-a-girl-queer-in-a-jazz-world_b_2769544 |work=Huffington Post |access-date=November 21, 2020}}
Discography
- 5am Stroll (Foxhaven Records) (2005)
- At The End of The Day, Agrazing Maze (Foxhaven Records) 2006
- Boom Tic Boom (Foxhaven Records) (2010)
- Boom Tic Boom: Live at Wilisau (Foxhaven Records) (2012)
- No Morphine No Lilies featuring Boom Tic Boom (The Royal Potato Family) (2013)
- Otis Was a Polar Bear featuring Boom Tic Boom (The Royal Potato Family) (2016)
- Science Fair with Carmen Staaf (Sunnyside Records) (2018)
- Glitter Wolf featuring Boom Tic Boom (The Royal Potato Family) (2019)
- Rivers in Our Veins (The Royal Potato Family) (2023)
Other projects
- Steampunk Serenade - Honey Ear Trio (Miller, Rene Hart, Erik Lawrence) (2011)
- Swivel - Honey Ear Trio (2016)
- Lean - Lean (Miller, Jerome Sabbagh, Simon Jermyn) (2016)
- Parlour Game - Parlour Game (Jenny Scheinman, Miller, Carmen Staaf, Tony Scherr) (Royal Potato Family, 2019)
- ARTEMIS - ARTEMIS (an all-female jazz supergroup) (2020, Blue Note)
- In Real Time - ARTEMIS (2023, Blue Note)
- Arboresque - ARTEMIS (2025, Blue Note)
- Tues Days (Duet with Jane Ira Bloom) (2021)
As side musician
Miller's work as a session musician includes:
- Betty 3 - Betty (1999)
- No Walls - Virginia Mayhew (2000)
- Phantoms - Virginia Mayhew (2003)
- At The End of The Day - Agrazing Maze (2005)
- Fingerprint - Eric Deutsch (2007)
- Heart and Soul Live in San Francisco - Kitty Margolis (2005)
- Tiny Resistors - Todd Sickafoose (2008)
- Jungle Soul - Dr. Lonnie Smith (2008)
- Red Letter Year - Ani Difranco (2008)
- Bear Creek - Brandi Carlile (2012)
- ¿Which Side Are You On? - Ani Difranco (2012)
- The Stars Look Very Different Tonight - Ben Allison (2013)
- Out and About - Will Bernard (2016)
- Last Things Last - Greg Cordez (2017)
- An Eight Out of Nine - SLUGish Ensemble, Steven Lugerner (2018)
- Lioness - Lioness (all woman group) (2019)
- Redshift – Josh Deutsch (2020)
- Occasionally – Pat Donaher (2021)
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{AllMusic |id=mn0000746007 |title=Allison Miller}}
- {{Discogs artist}}
- [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17231 All About Jazz: Meet drummer Allison Miller]
- [https://archive.today/20130131211908/http://idhitthatpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-06-18T16_06_31-07_00 2012 Audio Interview with Allison Miller from Podcast "I'd Hit That"]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Allison}}
Category:American women singer-songwriters
Category:American rock songwriters
Category:American rock singers
Category:West Virginia University alumni
Category:American folk musicians
Category:American lesbian musicians
Category:American LGBTQ singers
Category:American LGBTQ songwriters
Category:American women drummers
Category:American rock drummers
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Jazz musicians from New York City
Category:20th-century American drummers
Category:21st-century American drummers
Category:American jazz drummers
Category:20th-century American women musicians
Category:21st-century American women musicians
Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people
Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state)