Europe: The Miller Sessions Tour

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Imagine my delight when I got the most wonderful email the other week, out of the blue. The subject line was, 

"Fellow Miller Enthusiast."


Hi Kristen,

I stumbled over your page completely by chance, and so glad I did. There are not many people any more who cherish and even know who Joaquin Miller was.

This is probably a bit strange, but my name is Espen and I am a Norwegian singer-songwriter who have a project called Miller Sessions. We put music to some of Millers poems and I am travelling across Europe and playing them. 

I have no other intentions than saying hi to a fellow Miller enthusiast. There are of course a lot of wierd and funny stories connected to why a Norwegian would take on such a project, but I will leave it here for the moment :-)

If you are interested in hearing the music you find us on your favourite streaming platform as Miller Sessions.

Any how, thanks for remembering him and spreading his stories.

All the best
Espen Langbråten


Well of course, I immediately hit the web and found their site. The featured song gave me grungy goosebumps... imagine Nick Cave singing in an Austin bar, or if Butthole Surfers did an Emo ballad. Other tunes on their YouTube channel bring John Denver to mind. I know that Juanita set some of her father's songs to music, but what would Joaquin think of rock and roll? Of country music? Of punk?

On their website they explain the band's fascination with Miller, with "a story...so unbelievable that a Hollywood producer would have had trouble making it up." Espen conveys such enthusiasm for his discovered lyrics, writing, When you read Millers poems you can almost feel you are standing at the foot of Mount Shasta, California, or try to hang on to your life at the deck of the Santa Maria." Yes, they recorded "Columbus."

Their choice of poems is excellent, including the other big hits, "The Bravest Battle," "For Those Who Fail," and Miller's biggest late-life romance classic, "The Voice of the Dove." "Java," the darkest interpretation, struck Espen as a beautiful, moody expression of dark creation—without realizing Miller likely wrote it about Krakatoa, the volcano that erupted in 1883 that cast a shadow on the entire world for three days. (I also love "Midnight Pencillings," which takes on new meaning once you know he always wrote with a goose quill.)

According to their Instagram, the mostly-bearded Miller Sessions band are currently touring in the Netherlands and the UK. But here's some really great news... Espen will be in the Bay Area at the end of May/early June. Me and the Miller Nerds look forward to meeting him, and giving him a tour of the park!

 


Would you like to meet Espen or hear him play? Let me know in the comments or drop me a note at wir.cwc.berkeley at gmail!

Location: Europe

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