The Millers rank among the most esteemed figures in present-day folk and roots music, whether working apart or side by side. Buddy has built a reputation as a songwriter, guitarist, and producer whose sessions have drawn in Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Frank Black, Willie Nelson, and Richard Thompson. Julie first gained notice in Contemporary Christian circles, then brought her distinctive vocal phrasing and songwriting voice to a series of critically regarded singer-songwriter releases. Their joint recordings blend his atmospheric guitar textures and studio craft with her introspective lyrics and singing. Although they have frequently guested on each other’s projects, their first album released explicitly as a duo, 2001’s Buddy & Julie Miller, highlighted close harmonies and the interplay between Julie’s vulnerable yet resolute delivery and Buddy’s more forceful playing. Demanding schedules and Julie’s persistent health issues kept their collaborative output sparse, yet the understated 2019 album Breakdown on 20th Ave. South and the richly soulful 2023 set In the Throes demonstrated that their creative partnership remained potent.
Buddy Miller was born in Fairborn, Ohio, in 1952. He spent several years attempting to enter the music community in Woodstock, New York, before moving to Austin, Texas, in the mid-1970s. There, in 1975, he met aspiring singer-songwriter Julie Griffin during auditions for the same band; the pair connected both musically and personally. They married in 1981 and soon joined forces in the band Partners in Crime, which also featured Shawn Colvin. After securing a New York City engagement, the group relocated to the city and became regulars at the Lone Star Cafe, a venue focused on country and folk acts. Later they returned to Texas, where Julie, following a spiritual renewal, began composing material with Christian themes. She signed with the gospel and CCM label Myrrh Records and issued her debut solo album, Meet Julie Miller, in 1990. Buddy engineered those sessions and continued in that role for her follow-ups, 1991’s He Walks Through Walls and 1993’s Orphans and Angels. In 1995 the couple moved to Nashville, one of the few major music centers where they could purchase a home. That year Buddy secured a contract with Hightone Records, which released his solo debut, Your Love and Other Lies, featuring Julie’s backing vocals and several songs she had written. Around the same period he joined Emmylou Harris’s touring band and assembled a home studio from equipment accumulated over the years, soon attracting a steady stream of Music City artists and writers.
Following the 1996 release of Invisible Girl on Larry Norman’s Street Level Records, Julie’s songwriting shifted toward themes that retained spiritual depth while adopting a more personal tone, evident on her first Hightone album, 1997’s Blue Pony, which featured Buddy’s guitar and production. The pair next collaborated on Buddy’s 1999 album Cruel Moon and on Julie’s Broken Things, issued the same year. In 2000 they issued their first official joint project, Buddy & Julie Miller. As Julie began experiencing pain and fatigue later diagnosed as fibromyalgia, she withdrew from live performance and recording while Buddy’s profile rose through sideman work, songwriting, and production, even as he continued issuing solo albums such as 2002’s Midnight and Lonesome and 2004’s Universal United House of Prayer, both containing contributions from Julie. A second duo album, Written in Chalk, appeared in 2009, drawing on material recorded across several years. In 2012 Buddy joined the songwriting team for the television series Nashville and, after executive music producer T-Bone Burnett departed following the first season, assumed that role. His television and production commitments left limited time for other work, while Julie concentrated on writing and seldom appeared publicly because of her health. Eventually Buddy installed recording equipment in their bedroom to facilitate collaboration, resulting in the 2019 release Breakdown on 20th Ave. South. To mark the occasion the couple performed a rare Nashville concert.
After the album’s release Buddy resumed his usual studio schedule, contributing to projects by Gretchen Peters, Hiss Golden Messenger, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Laura Cantrell, and Bruce Cockburn. Julie focused on songwriting, completing nearly 100 new compositions by the time the couple finished their next album, 2023’s In the Throes. Recorded at the Millers’ home with Nashville session players including Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Tim Lauer on keyboards, and Viktor Krauss and Byron House on bass, the album contains “Don’t Make Her Cry,” co-written by Julie and Bob Dylan.
