austin miller

Delray Beach, FL

Five shows down, three to go.

I’m currently sitting on a back porch in Delray Beach. Not on the beach, but pretty darn close. The wind is blowing, the palms are swaying, and it’s an all around nice day. Everywhere we’ve visited, in fact, has been gorgeous, and every show has been incredible in one way or another. In Tampa, we were fed some of the best BBQ I’ve ever tasted. In Sarasota, we played to a near packed Blue Owl (This has actually been the only show of the tour that we played inside). In Punta Gorda, we played on a gazebo over looking Charlotte Harbor as the sun was setting. If I had to pick, I’d say this was my favorite show of the tour so far.

We stayed with Sean, who lives in one of the coolest old houses I’ve ever been in. The next day we walked back to the water front and enjoyed the day. Until Steve set up this show a few months ago, I honestly didn’t even know that this town existed. While it is small, I really feel like Punta Gorda has something special. And I’m so happy that my tour took me there.

We had the day off on Sunday, so we spent the rest of the day hanging around the Everglades and Big Cypress area. We didn’t see any gators (it started to get dark), but we saw, what I feel, is one of the most untouched places in Florida. The sunset was a nice end to the day.

Everywhere we’ve been so far, we’ve been surrounded by amazing people. I knew that Florida was filled with these kind individuals, but it’s been a little overwhelming. A lot more than I expected. Onward to Cocoa Beach we go.

3/8- Cocoa Beach- The North End

3/9- Jacksonville- Burro Bar

3/10- Panama City- A&M Theater

With love,

Austin

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Hitting the road tomorrow. Although it will be short, this is exactly what I need right now. I’m looking forward to Arizona RX tea, beaches, palm trees, late nights, Taco Bus, good friends, PB&J, Doritos, citrus (it is, after all, a Florida tour), sunsets, getting way too nostalgic, old Florida charm, book stores, record stores, parks, rest stops, and more.

I want to get as close to Florida as I possibly can. 

See you soon,

Austin

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Spring

Hi friends, I am very pleased to be writing you today. It’s time that I announced something that I’ve been working on and looking forward to for a while. This March, I will be embarking on an extensive tour of Florida with my good friend Steve Marino (Moor Hound). Steve is an incredible musician, I am so happy that he agreed to come on this tour with me. We spent a week together on our summer tours in Ohio and Indiana. I always have a great time hanging with him, and I’m looking forward to sharing the road with him again.

For me, this will be much more than just another tour. It will be a tour of my home state, the only state I have ever lived in. Months ago, while I was brainstorming where I wanted to go during this week and a half, my thoughts were initially to head north, much like my previous tours. Until it occurred to me- that there are still towns in this state, my home state, that I have never played in, and even more that I’ve never even seen. Something had to be done to change this, I thought.

It’s true, that I can’t really say for how much longer I will live here. I have no idea what the next couple years are going to hold for me, but there’s a good chance of me residing elsewhere. So, I figured that I should see as much of the state that I can, while I’m still here. There may come a time where I no longer call myself a Florida resident. But I will always be a Florida native, and Florida will always be my home.

I feel like so often, I hear people speak poorly of Florida. Like any state, there are problems and certain things that are undesirable. But I honestly believe that Florida possesses some of the prettiest lands and some of the most amazing, down to earth people. I’ve seen them both many times. Sometimes, you just need to look a little harder. You have to take the road less traveled, and maybe even abandon the road all together. That’s a big part of what this tour is about for me. Proving the naysayers of Florida’s beauty wrong.

While it is technically the State motto of Michigan, I feel like it could apply to Florida as well: 

“If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”

Anyway, enough of me rambling, here are the dates for the tour. There are just a few shows we are still working on. A complete list of venues will be posted in the near future.  

February 29- Tampa 

March 1- Saint Petersburg

March 2- Sarasota

March 3- North Port

March 4- Miami

March 5- Delray Beach

March 6- Fort Lauderdale

March 7- Cocoa

March 8- Jacksonville

March 9- Panama City

 March 10- Pensacola

With love,

Austin

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It’s been a while since I’ve used this thing, but it’s that time again. Next week I’ll be making an announcement with my friend Moor Hound. Any guesses as to what it may be? (If you are one of the few people I’ve mentioned it to already, you are exempt from guessing). Anyway, we are playing in Orlando this Thursday with some friends from Indiana. If you are in town, you should come out. All the info can be found here. 

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Lexington, KY

Well, my dad called today complaining how I hadn’t updated this. So here goes.

Saturday- Hightailed it out of Florida to Atlanta. Long 7 hour drive. Java Monkey was a neat place, outdoor stage with a good crowd hanging out. Most of them listened intently. I felt good vibes, I think the show the night before back home helped a lot. Stayed with Miles, a friend for many years.

Sunday- Short drive to Athens for a house concert at Jesse Houle’s. We played four square after and even went on a scavenger hunt. My team won. Duh. Even though I couldn’t help much, I’m not too familiar with the town. I still was a contributing factor.

Monday- Day off, hung out in Athens. Checked out the local record stores and whatnot. Jesse and his roommate are starting a podcast, which features a guest every week for a music trivia game. I won that too. After that, they did a little interview with me and I played a song. I’ll link it up later. Off to Knoxville that night. Wasn’t quite sure where I was staying until very soon before. But Kevin from Couchsurfing came thru at the last minute. He was a great host. That night we went to see Ian Thomas at Preservation Pub, where I played the next night. He put on a good show.

Tuesday- What a day. Got up early to play the Blue Plate Special on WDVX (I’m not saying noon is early… but the time I had to get up/be there was). As well as being broadcast, there was a live audience too. The place was packed, met some nice people, even some from Orlando. Took a short nap and headed over to Preservation Pub. Some people showed up who had heard me earlier on WDVX, which I thought was cool. The crowd never got huge, but the people there were awesome. I felt very well received. More people began to show up, and I was wrapping my set up. I played my last song, unplugged and thought I was done. But as I was doing so, the audience began calling for an encore. I walked to the edge of the stage completely unsure of what to do. I wasn’t expecting this at all. I just played a near two hour set and they wanted more? I hesitated, but it became clear that no one (including me) was leaving without more music. Still unplugged, I walked off the stage and played two more songs acoustic while standing on a chair. It was ridiculous. Got to talk with some great people afterwords too.

Wednesday- Didn’t get much sleep from the late night, and the downstairs neighbors who were BLARING music until 4 am and started again at 10 am. So loud it was rattling the floor. Guess where I had to sleep? The floor. Drove to Lexington thru some crazy weather. I forgot how nice it is here, it’s been a while since I’ve visited. It’s good to see my family too. They fed me well, something I don’t get very often. The show at Al’s Bar was similar to the show the previous night. No encore, but everyone made me feel welcome. Gave the bartender my CD, he said he was going to put it in the jukebox.

Blah blah blah, every city is beautiful, the shows are fun, the people are kind. This is going to get repetitive really fast. I guess I can only hope. 

Well, I’m sleepy. I’m sure I’m leaving things out but they’ll have to wait.

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A Sending Off

Well, tour time is here. So I will start using my tumblr again.

It’s not so often that shows are as fun as tonight’s was. Thank you, everyone, so very much.

I’m leaving tomorrow for Atlanta, my first stop on a two month tour. Dates can be found at http://austinmillermusic.com/shows.html. I’ll try to post something here as often as possible.

Also, listen to my new album if you haven’t already. http://austinmiller.bandcamp.com.

-Austin