A Little Bit About Me

Stevie

• My name is Steve Miller, living in the wilds of New Jersey, with one foot in the future and the other in the past. I'm a multi-instrumentalist, touched by the influences of several music genres. I build and repair instruments, perform live as a soloist and with various bands, give lessons, record in the studio, master recording projects, and I seem to be a sponge for useless information (needless to say, I'm a huge fan of Jeopardy). So a little history.

• No one in my immediate family played an instrument, so there was no passing of the musical gauntlet. My mother listened to the likes of Little Richard and Elvis, while my father leaned towards Boots Randolph and all that Yakity Sax type stuff. I started listening to whatever the radio had to offer. It was the time of the British Invasion and Motown. A time of Get off My Cloud and I Feel Good. So I picked up a pair of sticks and called myself a drummer.

• All through my early school days, I took any gig I could, filling in at honky tonks, backing up singers in cabarets, playing polkas at keg parties - anything. I also started to dabble on guitar, and it wasn't long before I put the sticks down and focused on the rock and roll world.

• I moved to New Jersey in '76, just in time to latch on to the emerging music scene in NYC. My biggest claim to fame from that period was the power pop band, Ambulance. It was also around this time I started repairing instruments, mostly out of necessity. As a lefty, instruments were hard to come by, and that meant modifying right handed instruments to suit my needs.

• Success with repairs meant that it was just a matter of time before I started building instruments. My first project was a five string banjo. Once I finished that, I had to learn how to play the darn thing. And that lead to listening and becoming infatuated with traditional music - especially Southern Old Time. And of course, once the bug bites you... so the next logical step was to learn to play the fiddle. And then make one. I jumped feet first into this style of music, taking workshops with Dwight Diller, Bruce Molsky, Bruce Greene, Paul Brown, and many others.

• A few years back, I got an order to build a hammered dulcimer. I had never attempted building one before, so after doing the research and experimenting, I decided to build two; for for the customer and one for myself. Once again, I now needed to learn how to play the instrument, and in the process, yet more musical styles opened up for me.

• Currently, in addition to luthiery and performing, I organize the Fireback Fiddle and Banjo contest, held the second Saturday after Labor Day Weekend, in Oxford, NJ. It brings many musicians together, and offers a chance for the public to hear many styles of music. And the prize money ain't too shabby, either.

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Contact me at stevie@fiddleboy.net