Brian Miller

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Brian Miller started playing Irish music as a 17-year-old in his decidedly non-Irish hometown of Bemidji, Minnesota. His first experiences with the music came through singing and playing guitar with The Gaels, a band he started with two friends who, like him, had no experience with Irish music. From that rather obscure beginning he has risen to be one of the busiest Irish traditional music performers of his generation living in the US. He acquired a deep understanding of the Irish tradition through many mentors in the Twin Cities including County Derry guitarist and singer Daithi Sproule and Co. Offaly accordion player Paddy O'Brien. He has also spent a lot of time in Cork, Ireland where he studied Irish music in college.

Brian's guitar accompaniment style has made him one of the most sought after guitar accompanists in the North American Irish music scene. Esteemed Irish music critic Earle Hitchner writes: "The backing of Miller on guitar flexes not just muscle but a fully complementary style." Also a great traditional singer, he is the founder of the Traditional Singers Club of the Twin Cities. He added the Irish flute to his arsenal in 2000 while studying Irish music in Cork where he learned his first flute tunes from Conal O'Grada and Padraig Kelleher. Brian is also a master of the 4-course Greek bouzouki.

Brian has performed across North America and in Ireland with various groups including Irish Music Awards’ 2009 “Top Traditional Group” Bua, The Máirtín de Cógáin Project and the Two Tap Trio. He has been featured on MPR's All Things Considered, CBC Radio's Canada Live, and Ireland's RTE television, RTE radio and TG4 television. He has been a guest lecturer on the Irish song tradition at University College Cork and he teaches flute, whistle and guitar at the Saint Paul based Center for Irish Music. In 2010, Brian received a prestigious grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to fund his CD of Irish-style songs that were sung in Minnesotan lumber camps in the 1800s.

Minnesota Lumberjack Songs When most people think of modern-day rural Minnesota, they probably picture the reserved Scandinavian townsfolk and quiet lifestyle of Lake Woebegone. But in the logging boom years of the late 1800s, Minnesota was overrun with a much rowdier bunch: Lumberjacks—many of them Irish—and they brought with them their penchant for revelry and their rich musical tradition. Singer and guitar player Brian Miller breathes new life into the long-forgotten Irish and Scottish music of Minnesota's early logging camps. Comes with two booklets full of beautiful archival photos and extensive history behind the songs. CD Price: $14.97

Wait There Pretty One This intimate album of soulfully delivered traditional songs and driving Irish dance tunes on flute and guitar is a collaborative CD with singer/flute and whistle player Norah Rendell. Ranked #1 by CBC's Galaxie Plus Celtic music DJ, Mary-Jane Lamond. CD Price: $14.97

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