Family band to perform Saturday
By Megan Finnerty
Features
Editor
The Clayton Miller Blues Band is more than just
an area blues band hanging out and playing local bars and festivals.
The band is family, and not in that "we've been
together so long that we're like family" kind of way. They're family
in a "we all share DNA, we don’t even need to look at each other
to know where this song is headed" kind of way.
And the Clayton Miller Blues Band is going to spread
the family vibes at 8 p.m. Saturday at Maize Catering in downtown Lafayette
at 625 Columbia St.
The Millers will be hosting a release party for
their eponymous debut album.
The album took a year to mix and produce, and Tammy
Miller, mother to three band members and wife to one, said fans have
been clamoring for the CD the whole time
"It's actually a good show," said 18-year-old Clayton,
the lead vocalist and guitarist. "It’s just that we've progressed
so much in between this show and the time we got it (the CD) out that
we weren't sure if we wanted to put it out.
"But it's something that's in the past and it shows
how much we've progressed. It shows that we're into the blues and we
love it."
His bassist and father, Larry, said, "We were tired
of it, but after we mixed it really well, we were happier with it. But
we've come a long way."
The Millers are close, teasing and supporting each
other constantly.
No one, not the youngest Miller, 7-year-old L.D.;
not the middle Miller, 15-year-old Cole; Tammy, Larry nor Clayton, can
get through a sentence without dissolving into laughs.
Even while talking about serious things such as
how stressful it can be to practice, live and perform with each other
or how the close bond between the family makes performing feel natural
and effortless, they poke fun at each other.
The Miller brothers all want to be professional
musicians. Drummer Cole said he misses out on too many other things
for his music not to be worthwhile.
If he didn't want to practice so much, it would
be a waste, he said. "I mean, this takes up a lot of time — every
weekend, every night; there's not a lot of chance to hang out with our
friends."
Tammy and Larry are able to live the rock 'n' roll
lifestyle some of the time because of their occupation; they own a janitorial
service and say the flexible hours are ideal for the band.
Tammy, a stay-at-home mom, promotes the band "all
the time" and Larry arranges his work schedule around practices and
gigs.
Most of the band's gigs are in area and regional
bars, where they have a growing fan base who sends the family encouraging
e-mails and fan letters. But Clayton said he prefers playing at festivals
and coffeehouses.
"It got real tiring playing bars," he said. "It's
fun usually at the start when people are sober, but when they're drunk,
it's kind of like playing to no one. No one's really paying attention,
it's smoky … "
Cole cuts him off, "And your eyes start to hurt
and it's 3 a.m."
The family laughs after that, but, then again,
they laugh all the time.
Although the Miller brothers are individually striking,
L.D. draws most of the attention. He stands out because he isn't very
tall yet. He talked about what it was like to play at the Knickerbocker
Saloon in Lafayette while being at eye level with the audience's stomachs
and derrières.
"I felt like a cricket and they were the beans,"
he said.
Tammy said, "I bent down and he made eye contact
with me and rolled his eyes because he was just surrounded by butts;
some were really large and some were kind of small, but it was all he
could see."
The next night L.D. had his own stage as he does
for most performances. Clayton said people are so impressed with L.D.'s
harmonica skills that they crowd around him after shows. And because
he's so small, it doesn't take many people to make him feel like he's
been mobbed.
But sometimes L.D.'s stature works in his band's
favor. He's been invited to play with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder,
Mississippi Heat and Buddy Guy.
"After the gig, when we were in Chicago, Buddy
Guy came out and he said, 'We got another Junior Wells,'" L.D. said.
"And he said I might get to sit with him on the stage. We got so excited
that we forgot to leave the waitress a tip at the restaurant."
|
