Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jonny Miller. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jonny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

Legacy is a concept that has always stirred a passion in me. When I was a child, my dad told me stories about his father, Rodney Miller, who died when my dad was only 10 years old. In those brief but wonderful 10 years, he taught my dad about being kind and gentle, standing up for the underdog, democracy, leadership, union pride, class solidarity, direct action, and Folk music. He worked for the Gas Company, was chair of Utility Workers Union of America Local 132, marched with Cesar Chavez, volunteered for the ACLU, ran for local school board and the Democratic Party county committee, Volunteered for Senator Tunney’s campaign, and sang Folk songs on his banjo and guitar.

When I was little we had a portrait of Grandpa Rodney hanging in the hall next to a plaque of the 10 commandments my parents received as a wedding gift. Rodney had a joyful smile, honest eyes, a dark tan, thick beard, long hippy hair, and he bore a strong resemblance to the image of Jesus painted on the 10 commandments plaque hanging next to him. I was raised secular, and my family never prayed together, but Rodney’s image and that of the Almighty was melded in my mind. I remember once seeing someone pray on TV, and I got down on my knees to pray that my baseball team would win a game, and when I prayed I pictured my grandpa. Years later, I went to a Christian summer camp with a friend, and we had a prayer circle, and when I prayed, who did I commune with but the luminous image of bearded Grandpa Rod.

Besides being raised with the haunting legacy of my grandfather, I was also a gifted child, top of my class, and I was continually reminded of my potential. Still, I was enveloped by love from my family, and my elders encouraged my joy of singing and performing. Losing my maternal grandmother at age 10 had a huge impact on me. Before she died, she went on a trip back East and sent me home a postcard from Nashville, writing, “I expect I’ll be coming here someday to hear you sing.” I think of her always and I feel her with me when I sing.

Part of what I hope my legacy will be is honoring the vision and hope of my ancestors, and spreading the joy and faith in humanity that I inherited from them. In my heart is a vision of radical hope. Every song I sing connects me to my ancestors, to all who have struggled to make a better world before me, and a feeling that I am harmonizing with all of humanity and all of nature. I reckon if a river could feel, then a river, as it flows over the land and falls, and bubbles, and trickles, and roars, and rages, and does all its river business, it would feel the way I feel when I sing, write, record, and perform songs.

I want to roll that river on and encourage others. That is part of why I am a Folk Revivalist. We need to take the music back from the professionals and the capitalists and democratize the whole enterprise of singing. Working people used to sing on the job, and there are a multitude of Folk songs for every trade. From farmers to sailors, from railroads to kitchens, people used to sing together. Children learned from their elders through song. When everybody sang, there was nothing to feel shy about. Yes, your voice, your breath is an intimate, sacred and powerful muscle, but so is EVERY human voice. Why do we put headphones in our ears and let professionals sing for us while a million songs die aborning in our hearts? Imagine if we all sang fearless, loud, and proud together? Imagine what we could overcome! Whether singing covers, or through the solo recordings & performances of my original music, playing with my band (Jonny Miller & Suns), or with the work of Do-Re-Mi (IE) Labor Songs Revival Collective, I hope to continue this mission of empowering the world to sing.

May my legacy be a massive repertoire of recorded songs. May I continue to lay down a multitude of albums of my original Folk songs. May I continue to teach folks of all ages, through private lessons, group classes, workshops, and camps, how to sing, play guitar, piano, banjo, ukulele, drums, bass, recording, and whatever they need to tell their story and speak their truth. May I join many picket lines and lead unions in song. May those songs inspire workers to unite and struggle, to roll the union on to improve the lives of working people everywhere. May my love of nature shine through my music and inspire others to defend the Earth. May I co-host Folk festivals in the Inland Empire to bring people together to sing songs about this wondrous desert. May I sing in Nashville and make my grandma proud, and tour the world and share my songs everywhere. May I honor all my ancestors and carry on that vision of radical hope in humanity.

Jonny, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always tried to use my music to empower the public and create community. Recently, I co-founded a labor songs revival collective called Do-Re-Mi (IE) which received a grant from Creative Corps Inland SoCal, a state-funded initiative of the California Arts Council. Our collective is modeled on the work of Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers, and the 1909 IWW Little Red Songbook. In the words of my co-founder, Becca Spence Dobias, “We aim to reinfuse the Inland Empire labor movement with music by uplifting the voices of logistics industry workers in updated adaptations of traditional folk songs, distributing them widely to regional labor unions and at actions and rallies.”

Additionally, I’ve written several albums worth of songs and recorded multiple tracks as a solo artist and with my band. We perform as Jonny Miller & Suns. Together, we have recorded the full-length album, “Trans-Mountaineer,” a Folk Rock Americana concept album inspired by nature & 1800s American Transcendentalism. Like all my recordings, you can find it on Spotify and all streaming platforms.

Our latest single, “Native Ground” (released 8/25/23), is a Folk Rock song uplifting nature, and imagining what the world once looked like before the celebration of the greed of man marred the land. Its driving rhythm, walking bass, country banjo, steel string acoustic guitar, haunting harmonies & authentic desert-billy vocals paint just a small portrait of “Where The Myrtle Doth Entwine,” the forthcoming album it’s a part of that features tales of the American West reimagined. It pays tribute to past Americana artists like Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan & Neil Young.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I don’t have to hide who I am or pretend to be someone I’m not. I get paid to be me. I express my authentic self and I get to encourage others to do the same.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I suppose the goal and mission is Hope, truth, and love. Love yourself, and stand up for others. Be true to yourself or everyone in the community will be lacking. Have hope in humanity. Alone we are powerless to change the system, but there is power in a union. This is what drives my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: JonnyMillerJr.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonnymillerjr/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonnymillerjr
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonnymillerjr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0yKsPOKaoBDa7tcXjBWU4w
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4XslFOKrDeF1DdmxPTtwMN

Image Credits
Danielle Cornell