 Bill Miller A Mohican Indian from northern Wisconsin, Bill Miller has long been one of the most admired figures in the Native American music arena and beyond, receiving five Native American Music Awards in 2000, including Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, Folk Artist, and Artist of the Year for Ghost Dance. In 2005 his album, Cedar Dream Songs, won a Grammy Award for Best Native American Recording. With music, Miller discovered a way out of the entrenched poverty of the reservation. Music had always been an essential part of life, and Bill (whose Indian name, Fush-Ya Heay Ka, means "bird song") learned traditional songs at an early age. "We didn't have much," he recalls. "There was nothing but woods, trout and a Zenith radio that picked up AM stations across the country. I'd hear Barbra Streisand, The Beatles, Stones, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan. I became a fan of all kinds of good music and the emotion it can capture."
At age 12, Bill got his first guitar. Although he played in teen rock bands for a few years, he soon tired of it. Trading his electric guitar for an acoustic, he began to play folk music and bluegrass, as well as taking up the Native American flute, which he soon mastered. "With the flute, the breath speaks for you," says Miller. "It's a faith instrument, a spirit instrument." A turning point came when he attended a Pete Seeger concert shortly after leaving the reservation to study art at the Layton School of Art and Design in Milwaukee (he later attended the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse). The experience inspired him to move to Nashville to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter. Despite experiencing virulent racism because of his Native American heritage, Miller persevered. In time, he made tremendous inroads, writing songs with Nancy Griffith, Peter Rowan and Kim Carnes, and sharing the bill with such diverse artists as Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, the BoDeans, Rich Havens, and Arlo Guthrie. He got a big break when Tori Amos asked him to be her opening act on the “Under The Pink” U.S. and Canadian tour. The tour, which sold out venues across the country, was extended to over two hundred shows. Bill has never stopped growing as a singer, songwriter, and performer. His long recording career includes such landmark albums as Loon Mountain And Moon (1991), Red Road (1994), Reservation Road, Raven In The Snow (1995), Ghost Dance (1999), and The Art Of Survival (2000). His most recent releases are Spirit Rain and Cedar Dream Songs. With his new albums, Bill hopes to further inspire fans, both present and future. "I choose to bless people rather than curse them, to be a peacemaker rather than a warmaker." Miller says. He feels just as passionate about saving the environment of North America, the land of his forebears. "I think we should feel as if we're living in the Garden of Eden, and we should take care of the land," he says emphatically. "I'll always use my music to urge people to preserve the land." Bill has an equally active career as a painter. His work has been shown and sold in prestigious galleries around the country, and he maintains a studio at his Nashville home, where he lives with his wife and children. For additional information call the Performing Arts Studio at 307-9320 or visit Bill Miller’s website at http://www.billmiller.net/. Winter Wind Concerts are made possible in part by grants from the Norman Chamber of Commerce Arts and Humanities Committee, Norman Arts Council, the Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Sponsors are: Tom McAuliffe, Don Cies Real Estate; Mark and Teresa Marsee, Avante Skin Care; and Nancy McClellan. Additional support comes from Skye Diers, Gingerbread Nursery School; Becky Grider and Danna Primm. |
