Sonny Miller

Sonny Miller is a journeyman Appalachian fiddler who developed a mastery of the traditional fiddle music repertoire as handed down from generation to generation among the Appalachian settlers. He was from roughly the same era as Kenny Baker, meaning old enough to have picked up this type of music first hand, but young enough to still be alive. Perhaps the greatest exposure this fiddler had in his career was in the early '80s, when bandleader Del McCoury put him in the lineup of his Dixie Pals along with fellow old-time and early bluegrass vet mandolinist Herschel Sizemore. The bandleader did a good deed exposing such fine players to the new, enthusiastic bluegrass audience of the '80s. The fiddler, by this point, had been playing professionally for some three decades. Career highlights include a stint in the New River Boys backing up the phenomenal banjo player and front lady Ola Belle Reed. Miller also cut some of his own sides for small regional labels, such as New River, and in the early '80s began performing with old-time and folk revival master Mike Seeger, a former member of the New Lost City Ramblers. The two performed together at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, an event that was captured on tape by Prestige Records for a folk music series. Miller is heard in a more down-home milieu on live recordings from events such as the Galax Fiddle Festival. In the '90s, he fronted his own country band simply entitled the Sonny Miller Country Band, performing at engagements such as state fairs. He is no relation to the Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist of "I've Got a Date With an Angel" fame. ~ Eugene Chadbourne