THIS POST CAME FROM A LONG TIME NINEBULLETS.NET READER, ADAM FENWICK:

Last Sunday I braved the icy roads in the Charlotte area and ventured into the NoDa Arts District to see one of my favorite singer/songwriters, a gentleman (using the term loosely) named Scott Miller at a small venue called The Evening Muse.

For those unfamiliar with Mr. Miller, a quick history lesson is in order. A native of Swoope, Va., Miller graduated from William and Mary and moved to Knoxville, Tenn., where he quietly began making a name for himself at any number of small-town bars.

Eventually he formed a band called the Viceroys, which morphed into The V-Roys (alongside Mic Harrison, Paxton Sellers, Jeff Bills and John Paul Keith). The V-Roys achieved mild success, becoming the first band to join Steve Earle’s E-Squared Records.

The band broke up on Jan. 1, 2000, leading to Miller venturing out on his own. He has since put out a number of records (alongside his rag-tag band called The Commonwealth), any of which you can purchase at www.thescottmiller.com.

Anyway, back to the point. This was my second time seeing Miller perform live (the first being a last-second trip to Knoxville with a former girlfriend last year) and while this show wasn’t as good as the first, it was far from disappointing.

The Evening Muse — a tiny venue that could seat anywhere between 80 and 100 by my best estimates — was jam packed despite the icy conditions outside.

Miller opened the show with his lone instrumental, titled Feel So Fair To Midland, and from there the show was on in full force.

One thing worth mentioning is how personable Miller always is. He always encourages the crowd to shout out any requests they may have at him during the show, although he regularly says jokingly, “I won’t play anything by the Eagles.”

That alone makes him a unique artist in my opinion, its not often that a musician of Miller’s stature will willingly accept requests from their entire catalog — though it does create minor issues like they did on Sunday.

Twice during requests Miller came up short when trying to remember the lyrics, but rather than get frustrated he just laughed and jokingly said after forgetting the lyrics to a song called Yes I Won’t, “Why did ya’ll request that old shit? I’ve got new music, request that!”

I swear, if Miller weren’t a musician he could easily make a living as a comedian. Between every song he was cracking jokes with crowd members, jokes mostly making fun of himself. The show was short (Miller took the stage at 9 p.m. and wrapped up around 10:45) but there wasn’t a second of down time in between.

Mr. Miller even paused long enough to take a picture with yours truly, which I now consider among my most cherished possessions. Oh yeah, I just happened to be wearing a certain NineBullets.net shirt at the time (editors note: Hell Yeah!).

If you ever happen to be in the same city as Mr. Miller on any given night, I highly encourage you to check him out. You certainly won’t regret it.

Scott Miller & The Commonwealth – Eight Miles Per Gallon
Scott Miller & The Commonwealth – Drunk All Around This Town
Scott Miller & The Commonwealth – Lo Siento, Spanishburg, WVa