Scott Miller “Citation”

Not many concerts came through Greeley Colorado when I lived in that area, but several acts would play in Fort Collins, Boulder or Denver, all within a reasonable drive from the cattle capital of northern Colorado.  One concert that came to Denver was Scott Miller and The Commonwealth.  They were making an appearance at some dive bar on east Colfax.  However, I didn’t know that it was a bar the size of my first apartment when I left my cozy confines on the South Platte River.  One thing about mapquest maps, all the addresses look the same size.  I figured it was a normal sized bar, but when I got there, it made the Wormy Dog (Stillwater version) look like the Taj Mahal.  Another thing I didn’t realize when I headed south on highway 85 was that east Colfax isn’t the best place to be for a Kansas farm kid.  Let’s just say that things go on there that never happened in Greensburg.  I still remember thinking, can they really do that in public.  But I got to the place nice and early and found a spot at the bar.  I’m not kidding when I said the place was small, there were maybe 10 seats at the bar and maybe 4 tables to sit at, with only a few feet between the bar and the tables.  Heck, Scott could’ve helped the bartender hand out drinks during the set; he was that close to the bar when he played.  Funny thing when Scott and the band came into the bar, the guy at the door carded him and wanted to charge him a cover.  “But, I’m putting on the show,” Scott protested.  The bouncer looked at me and I nodded, apparently, you only need to be at that bar for 10 minutes to be considered a regular.  We shared a beer before he had to get ready for the show.  This is when it got exciting.  The bar was an island type bar and my seat was at the end of the bar just 3 feet from the door with my back to it.  Then a “true” regular (He must have been there a half hour sometime) tried to come in.  He wasn’t used to paying a cover to get his cheap whiskey and did not like that fact that they were trying to get him to pay to get toasted.  (Actually, he had already hit the bottle pretty hard.)  He got mad and said we were all a bunch of racists since he wasn’t let in and that he was going to come back and kill all us “crackers.”  Now, like I said, my back is to the door, and I’m not making a move for fear that he wouldn’t have to go somewhere to get his gun, and would start shooting the first thing that moved.  Well, eventually he left, and all us crackers checked our drawers.  I guess Scott isn’t used to that type of thing either, because he checked his drawers twice, but that’s the price you have to pay to hear good music.  Fortunately, all I had to do to get his new CD, “Citation” was go to Miles of Music and order it, wait a couple of days by my mailbox and spend 5 hours trying to get the shrink rap off of the CD.

Scott Miller’s music is great east coast roots rock type music.  If you’ve seen Van live or checked out one of Nathan’s shows, you’ve probably heard a Scott Miller cover.  I think his brilliance is evident when you listen to individual lines in a song.  One of my all time favorite lines in a song is on his Thus Always to Tyrants CD: Now this beer is colder than the shoulder you’d give me if I were to tell you the truth.  This CD only adds to his great songwriting.  Such as on track two:

I found myself a girl friend
I couldn’t believe it myself

If the Boss had been a preacher
He could‘ve led us to the lord

And

But I don’t mind getting older
If you get smarter when you do

Or perhaps you like the line from “Wild Things.” We met like we had a past, “The Only Road,” Only road he’d ever known was gravel, clay and cotton bolls, and That girl Elizabeth was born with a broken heart.   More highlights include, If you’re not going to make your dreams epic, why dream anything at all, from “Say Ho,” a tribute to Sam Houston and A short fuse is just an excuse for a bitter man, on “Only Everything.” 

Another thing I like about his music is he has “war” songs, but they’re not necessarily “pro” or “con” but rather a setting to tell a story.  I can see how the “hawks” or “doves” can take these songs to make their point, but to me, the war is just a backdrop for the story being told.  This was the case in “Dear Sarah” and “Highland County Boy,” Civil War epics on Thus Always to Tyrants and on “The Only Road” and “Jody” on this CD.  I don’t know if this is his intention, but that’s how I see it.  A quick word of caution if you have small kids, you may not want to play this CD in front of them, it has some adult language on “8 Miles a Gallon” (but if you have a trucker in the family, this song will be one of their favorites) and talks about some adult situations on some other songs.  But if you like gritty straight-ahead rock, this is the must have CD for you.

So, what have we learned today, “Citation” is a great CD, Scott Miller is the king of the one-liner and if you go to a bar on East Colfax in Denver, never sit with your back to the door.  You can find more info on Scott Miller on the web at thescottmiller.com, but only go there after you have looked at everything on this site.