The Ben Miller Band is an American band that was formed in 2005 in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

. The band's lineup currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Ben Miller; bassist (playing a homemade one-string washtub bass), drummer, and back-up vocalist Scott Leeper; lead/back-up vocalist, violinist/cellist, guitarist, and electric-cactus player Rachel Ammons; and guitarist/bassist/percussionist Bob Lewis. The Ben Miller Band combines elements of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, bluegrass and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

into their music. Originally, The Ben Miller Band's sound had been self-described by the band as "Ozark Stomp" but in reference to their label, is now referred to as "Mudstomp".

History

In 2010, The Ben Miller Band released a pair of albums. ''1 Ton'' was released on June 10, 2010, with ''2 Ton'' released shortly after on August 5, 2010. On May 22, 2011 their home town of

was devastated by a tornado. In response to the tragedy, the band established a charity to help restore the community. They also released a benefit album titled ''Record for Joplin''. The release of this charity album was followed shortly after by another release titled ''Heavy Load'' in 2012. The Ben Miller band won a slot as the opener for

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

in 2013. Their performances with ZZ Top garnered praise and attention from reviewers. They were signed to

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...

later in that year. In 2014 the band found themselves in the studio recording with

Vance Powell Vance Powell is an American six-time Grammy Award winning record producer, engineer and mixer. His credits include Phish, Chris Stapleton, Jack White, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, The White Stripes, Arctic Monke ...

and subsequently released the album ''Any Way, Shape or Form''. Original member Doug Dicharry (percussionist/trombone) left the band at the end of 2015. Soon after, Rachel Ammons and Bob Lewis were asked to join the band. Since then, the band has continued touring North America and Europe. Their latest album, titled ''Choke Cherry Tree'', was released on January 26, 2018 on New West Records.

Discography

Albums

* ''1 Ton'' (2010) * ''2 Ton'' (2010) * ''Heavy Load'' (2012) * ''Any Way, Shape or Form'' (2014) * ''Choke Cherry Tree'' (2018)

History

Discography

Albums

EPs

References

External links