Jim Miller (musician)

Jim Miller (musician)
Jim Miller (born 1954) is a rock and roll guitarist, singer, teacher, recording artist and band leader in the “jam band” genre’. He has performed with Oroboros and his present group, JiMiller Band. He has also founded and organized several events, including co-founding the Rock & Reggae Festival and founding Lazy Daisy and DeadFall at Nelson Ledges State Park in northeast Ohio. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Personal history
Miller was born July 2, 1954, at the historic St. Ann's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a wife, Beth, a son named Michael who plays guitar in the JiMiller Band, and two stepchildren, Reid and Sarah Street.
Oroboros
Miller co-founded Oroboros in 1980 as a Grateful Dead tribute band, which soon generated original music in the jam band genre. It was named for the ouroboros, an ancient symbol for infinity, depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. Among the bands they have opened for are Go Ahead (with members of the Grateful Dead and Santana), The Radiators, Black Uhuru, Santana and Rusted Root. They co-founded the Rock & Reggae Festival in 1984 with First Light at Meadowoods Farm, originally as a benefit for the Cleveland Free Clinic. They performed until 1998, produced five albums, and played a reunion concert in 2003.
Past members
Jim Miller (guitar & vocals)
Bill Cogan (guitar & vocals)
Mary Beth Cooper (vocals, etc.)
Gary Maxwell (bass)
Rocky Miller (keyboards)
Rob Luoma (drums).
Dave Downing (bass)
Don Safranek (percussion)
Will Douglas (drums)
Scott Swanson (bass)
Mike Rotman (keyboard, guitar, percussion)
Mike Verbick (guitar)
Michael Bradley (keyboards, vocals)
Ned Kalafat (bass)
Highlights
1984 - Co-Founded the Rock & Reggae Festival with the band First Light
1994 - HORDE Tour (Blossom Music Center)
1991 – opened for Phish at the Agora (Cleveland, Ohio)
1995, 1996 & 1997 (July) – Starwood Festival (Sherman, New York)
1996 - Southern Thailand Jazz Festival
1996 - Furthur Festival
2003 - Reunion
Discography
1985 - Different Feeling
1988 - Psycha Deli: Live at the Euclid Tavern
1991 - First Circle
1993 - Serpent's Dance
1996 - Shine
JiMiller Band
The JiMiller Band was founded in 1998 by Jim Miller, continuing to play the style of jam band music Miller played with Oroboros. They have performed since their founding, sharing the stage with such notable bands and artists as String Cheese Incident, Galactic, Bruce Hornsby, Little Feat, Rusted Root and the Rhythm Devils, and produced four CDs.
Current roster
Jim Miller - Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar
Vince Berry - Guitar
Steve "Nev" Scheff - Keyboard & Vocals
Brian "Bagel" Golenberg - Drums & Vocals
Dave Blackerby – Bass
Past members
Brett Miller (bass)
Matt Harmon (guitar, dobro)
Dan Carter (drums)
Rick Davidson (guitar)
Steve Zavesky (drums)
Mike Miller (guitar)
Highlights
2004 - 10,000 Lakes Festival
2005 & 2006 (summer) - opened for Little Feat at Cleveland's House of Blues
2007 (Memorial Day weekend) - opened for Rusted Root at Tower City Center Amphitheater (Cleveland)
2007 (New Year's Eve) – opened for Rusted Root at The House of Blues (Cleveland)
2009–2011 – opened for the Early Bird Festival at Nelson Ledges
2010 (Labor Day) - opened for the Rhythm Devils with Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann from The Dead.
2012 - Starwood Festival at Wisteria Event Campground (Pomeroy, Ohio)
Discography
2000 - Rock and Roll Always Do
2001 - Crooked River Groove
2004 - Family Roots (Double Live CD)
2006 - In Trance It (Double CD: 1 Live, 1 Studio)
Original Songs
Sing It To Your Children
Sing It To Your Children - Oroboros - Different Feeling Released: 1985
Sing It To Your Children - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Euclid Tavern, Cleveland OH, 2/26/93)
North Coast Waters
North Coast Waters - Oroboros - Different Feeling Released: 1985
Agathodaimon
Agathodaimon - Oroboros - Different Feeling Released: 1985
Agathodaimon - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Shuba's, Chicago IL, 3/5/93)
Shake It To The Limit
Shake It To The Limit - Oroboros - Different Feeling Released: 1985
Shake It To The Limit - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Syzygy
Syzygy - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Paradox
Paradox - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Win or Lose
Win or Lose - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Weather the Storm
Weather the Storm - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Fog Over the Flats
Fog Over the Flats - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Laughing at Harpo
Laughing at Harpo - Oroboros - Psycha Deli Released: 1988
Water Unto The Stone
Water Unto The Stone - Oroboros - First Circle Released: 1991
Whispers of Love
Whispers of Love - Oroboros - First Circle Released: 1991
Glad Messenger
Glad Messenger - Oroboros - First Circle Released: 1991
The Griffon Song
The Griffon Song - Oroboros - First Circle Released: 1991
King Kong II
King Kong II - Oroboros - First Circle Released: 1991
See You Smile
See You Smile - Oroboros - First Circle Released: 1991
Smell the Roses
Smell the Roses - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Euclid Tavern, Cleveland OH, 2/26/93)
The River Runs
The River Runs - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Shuba's, Chicago IL, 3/5/93)
Funk in A
Funk in A - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Euclid Tavern, Cleveland OH, 4/9/93)
Siddhartha's Train
Siddhartha's Train - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Euclid Tavern, Cleveland OH, 4/9/93)
The Friend Song
The Friend Song - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Tulagi's, Boulder CO, 3/27/93)
Shakin' the Cage
Shakin' the Cage - Oroboros - Serpent's Dance Released: 1993 (Euclid Tavern, Cleveland OH, 4/9/93)
Calliope - Oroboros
Calliope - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Do All You Can
Do All You Can - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Leaving This Place Too Soon
Leaving This Place Too Soon - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Far and Few
Far and Few - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Big Black Snake Blues
Big Black Snake Blues - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
San Juan Man
San Juan Man - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Cuyahoga Bayou
Cuyahoga Bayou - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Won't Be Long
Won't Be Long - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
You Shine
You Shine - Oroboros - Shine Released: 1996
Notes
References
Earlybird Gathering Simply Groovy by Malcolm X Abram, April 23, 2010, The 330
Grateful Dead at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Poet Mark Kuhar and Rocker Jim Miller Pay Homage by Michael Norman, March 22, 2012, The Plain Dealer
‘In trance it,’ latest JiMiller Band CD, debuts in Lakewood by Charles Cassady in West Life News
Jam Bands: North America's Hottest Live Groups Plus How to Tape and Trade Their Shows by Dean Budnick - ECW Press, 1998
Jammin' Again: The Midwest's First Jam Band Reunites at the Grog Shop by D.X. Ferris, October 6, 2004, The Cleveland Scene
JiMiller Band – Soundclick
JiMiller Band 'Grateful' to be Playing Outpost by Allan Lamb, Feb. 17th, 2005, KentWired
JiMiller Band's Final Live CD Recording at Park Street Tavern on April 28 by Margaret Marten - Short North Gazette, Mar/Apr 2012 Issue
Oroboros - The Kipple Archives Volume No. 17, Issue No. 2, April 1990
Rock ‘n Roll and the Cleveland Connection: Music of the Great Lakes by Deanna R. Adams - Kent State University Press, 2002
Rockers Play Tribute to Grateful Dead by Kenny Miles, September 30, 2005, Grateful Dead News
A Slippery Band to Define by Neil Malhatra, February 6, 1998, UWO Gazette
External links
JiMiller Band Website
Oroboros Discography
JiMiller Band on Archive.org
American male singer-songwriters
American rock songwriters
American rock singers
Singers from Cleveland
Musical groups established in 1980
Musical groups disestablished in 1998
Musical groups established in 1998
Psychedelic rock musicians
Jam bands
Musical groups from Cleveland
1954 births
Living people
Singer-songwriters from Ohio