Dan Miller (born October 3, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. He has toured and recorded with the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

since late 1998. Generally, Miller plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s for the band. Prior to joining TMBG, he performed with the groups Edith O and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. Having left Lincoln for personal reasons in 1998, he was contacted by

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Common ...

, who offered him a spot as lead guitarist for They Might Be Giants' Fall 1998 tour. He has also toured with

Mono Puff John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Commo ...

's guitarist in the late 1990s, and played on bandmate

John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician, known primarily as one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwri ...

's '' State Songs'' tour. Miller is known to sing backup and some lead during live performances of songs. He also occasionally plays

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s when Linnell is playing

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

s. Miller co-wrote the song "Infinity" with Robert Sharenow on They Might Be Giants' second children's album, '' Here Come the 123s''. In addition to playing with TMBG, Miller and drummer

Marty Beller Marty Beller (born July 10, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the current drummer for They Might Be Giants since Dan Hickey's departure in 2004. He has recorded two solo albums. He has contributed writing and vocals for three of ...

had their own musical production firm called MartyDan Industries. Working together, the duo had created music for film, TV, and commercials. Dan is also credited on

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are " Co ...

's album ''

Artificial Heart An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant (from a deceased human or, experi ...

''.

Style

Miller states that he commonly "used a lot of crummy guitars...such as old

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

s and Valpros," because he "enjoys the challenge of making something bad sound good." He describes himself as a "schooled" guitarist, compared to bandmate John Flansburgh, who was self-taught.Fox, Darrin. ''Guitar Player''. December 2013.

Soundtracks

In addition to his role as guitarist, Dan Miller is an active composer for Film and TV. Film/Documentary Television

Personal life

On June 21, 2008, Miller married Annette Berry, a graphic artist and creative director based in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Berry is credited with designing They Might Be Giants' 1999 studio album, ''

Long Tall Weekend ''Long Tall Weekend'' is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, released in 1999. It was released exclusively online through the digital music service eMusic. The album was the band's first since their depar ...

''.''Long Tall Weekend'' (Album notes). They Might Be Giants. GoodNoise. 1999.

References

External links

* Dan Miller article on This Might Be a Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Dan 1967 births Lead guitarists Living people They Might Be Giants members