Alex Miller Archives - Nashville Music Line

It’s August! Here’s this month’s Inside Track

Inside Track on Music Row for August 2024

by Preshias Harris

Scroll down to read a LOT of news about HARDY, Reba McEntire, Megan Moroney, Jake Owen, Opry Country Christmas, Chris Tomlin, Nu-Blu, Lauren Watkins, Bobby Marquez, Ashley McBride, Alex Miller, Morgan Wallen, Allie Colleen, Justin Moore and much more!

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “I’ve ended up as a songwriter. This is my job. How did I get this lucky? What a great job!” – Paul McCartney, in an interview with Annie Clark (St. Vincent) on Instagram Live. [reported in American Songwriter, April 16, 2021]

BIBLE VERSE OF THE MONTH: Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! – Psalm 100: 1-2

ALBUM NEWS: Acclaimed singer-songwriter Amos Lee will release his eagerly awaited new album, Transmissions, available Friday, August 9 on his own Hoagiemouth Records via Thirty Tigers. Lee’s 11th studio album and first new collection of original songs in more than two years, Transmissions is heralded by the premiere of the graceful first single, “Hold On Tight,” available everywhere now. Listen now at Play MPE and watch the official video here.

Transmissions sees Amos Lee continuing to expand his sonic range while sharpening his closely observed lyrics that squarely address death, aging, and love. Self-produced by Lee for only the second time in his chart-topping, RIAA Gold-certified career (following 2013’s Spirit), the Philadelphia, PA-based artist returned to an old-school style of recording, working with his longtime band in a studio in rural Marlboro, NY, built by drummer Lee Falco and his dad out of reclaimed wood from an old church. Playing live on the floor for long hours in close quarters, Lee and his fellow musicians were able to capture the album’s twelve songs in less than a week. Lee augmented his band’s soulful, folk-funk sound with arrangements that extend the scope of songs, from autobiographical to upbeat and jam-powered. Music, tour dates and more at Amos Lee’s website. Pre-order Amos Lee’s Transmissions here. #AmosLee

ALBUM NEWS Part Two: Megan Moroney’s Am I Okay? debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 — the definitive all-genre chart for U.S. album sales. Released on July 12 to widespread acclaim, the Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records singer/songwriter’s sophomore LP also shot to the No. 3 spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart — a feat that makes Am I Okay? the fifth-biggest Country debut of 2024 and the year’s third-biggest debut from a female Country artist (after Beyoncé and Kacey Musgraves). Go here to stream/download Am I Okay? now. With nearly 43K in consumption units in its first week — including 37.6 million streams — Am I Okay? has earned massive praise from many of the music world’s leading publications, including Rolling Stone, Variety, The Tennessean and the print editions of American Songwriterand The New York Times.

Also lauded by Billboard, MusicRow, and more, Am I Okay? turned up on coveted lists like “New Music Friday: The best albums out July 12” from NPR’s All Songs Considered. In addition, Associated Press declared that “[y]ou’d be hard-pressed to find a more relatable voice in contemporary country music for young women” and hailed Am I Okay? as “a heartbreak-filled rollercoaster ride of a sophomore album, filled with quotable kiss-offs and evolved compositions.” Moroney has earned nearly 1.5 billion total global streams to date. More at Megan Moroney’s website and on social media. #MeganMoroney

AMERICANA NEWS: The Americana Music Association has announced its performers for the 23rd annual Americana Honors & Awards, taking place in Nashville on Sept. 18 at the famed Ryman Auditorium. This year’s Honors & Awards will deliver performances from award-winning legends, buzzworthy new artists, and longtime fan favorites including Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandy Clark with SistaStrings, Charles Wesley Godwin, Dave Alvin, Dwight Yoakam, Fantastic Negrito, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Jobi Riccio, Kaitlin Butts, Larkin Poe, The Milk Carton Kids, Noah Kahan, Sarah Jarosz, Shelby Lynne, Sierra Ferrell, Turnpike Troubadours, The War And Treaty, Waxahatchee with MJ Lenderman, and Wyatt Flores.

In addition to the annual “Of the Year” awards presented during the program (view the nominees here), the 2024 Honors & Awards will include this year’s Lifetime Achievement Honorees: Blind Boys of Alabama, Dave Alvin, Don Was, Dwight Yoakam, Rev. Gary Davis, and Shelby Lynne. Rev. Gary Davis (honored posthumously) will receive the Legacy Award in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music and will be recognized with a performance by Fantastic Negrito. Additionally, the program will be filmed for broadcast on PBS in the Austin City Limits time slot in November. Tickets to the Americana Honors & Awards are on sale now here. For more information on the association or to purchase passes to AMERICANAFEST, visit www.americanamusic.org.

Alex Miller says, “Girl, I Know a Guy”

New single from American Idol alum

By Preshias Harris

For Alex Miller, it all began with his fan-favorite appearance on American Idol. But it was a beginning that was a decade in the making for an artist who had been performing since he was nine years old.

Now with a new single – “Girl, I Know A Guy” – impacting radio April 21 and a new EP scheduled for later this year, Alex is on the way up. In March, Alex and I sat down at Country Radio Seminar (CRS) to catch up on what’s going on in what he calls his “crazy” life. Read the full interview at Center Stage Mag here.

The new single follows previous releases, “When God Made the South”, “I’m Over You, So Get Over Me”, “Don’t Let the Barn Door Hit Ya” and “Through With You” – the latter peaking in the Top 35 of the Billboard Indicator Chart and at No. 1 on The Country Network.

*Alex Miller and his grandfather GB Miller visiting the Ernest Tubb Record Store in Nashville.*

In our interview, Alex shared a touching story about the unflagging support he received from his grandfather. “He’d say, ‘You’re gonna play at the Grand Ole Opry someday. I’m gonna make that happen,’” Alex told me.

Alex Miller: torch-bearing champion of traditional country music

His hot new album, Miller Time, and a 12-Pack Q&A

By Preshias Harris

Traditional country music is alive and well – in the shape of Alex Miller. A genuine country boy – he works the family cattle farm – Alex found fame on ABC TV’s American Idol Season 19. At the time, he was just seventeen and wowed all three judges with his self-penned song, “I’m Over You, So Get Over Me.” Judge Luke Bryan asked him, “What happens if you ever play the Grand Ole Opry?” To which Alex replied, “Oh, I don’t know, man. I’d die and go to heaven!” Luke said he’d try and make that happen. Sure enough, Alex got the ‘Golden Ticket’ and was off to Hollywood and a national audience.

*Alex Miller performing on the Hard Rock Concert Stage at CMA Music Fest 2022. Photo: Brandi Hall*

Now, the tall (6’ 6”) Kentucky native is regarded by country purists as The Real Thing: a torch-bearer for traditional country with a deep, arresting voice that defies his baby face appearance.

Despite his explosion on the music scene thanks to Idol, Alex is no newcomer to music, having performed in public since the age of seven around his hometown of Lancaster, KY, and further afield as his vocal and songwriting skills developed. In just the past couple of years, he has shared the stage with the likes of Hank, Jr, Josh Turner, Lee Brice and Shenandoah, and has performed at the Ryman Auditorium and at high-profile State Fairs. In October 2021, he was named Texas Roadhouse Artist of the Month. Now aged eighteen, he has released his debut album titled Miller Time – although, ironically, he is still too young to purchase the adult beverage alluded to in the album’s title.