John R. Miller at Songbyrd DC

John R Miller is a true hyphenate artist: singer-songwriter-picker. Born in the Washington, DC area and raised in West Virginia, Miller has built a reputation as a thoughtful, boundary-pushing voice in alt-country and Americana, drawing from punk, traditional Appalachian music, and less conventional rock influences.
Every song on his thrilling debut solo album, Depreciated, is lush with intricate wordplay and haunting imagery, backed by a band that is on fire. One of his biggest long-time fans is roots music favorite Tyler Childers, who says he’s “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time.” Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honkytonk and get existential all in the same line with his tightly written compositions.