Allison Miller (drummer)

Allison Miller is a New York City-based drummer, composer, and teacher. She has recorded five albums as a bandleader: 5 AM Stroll, Boom Tic Boom, No Morphine-No Lilies, Live at Willisau, and Otis Was a Polar Bear, as well as working as a session musician. Her work with bands has included forming the band Honey Ear Trio with Rene Hart and Erik Lawrence, Holler and Bam with Toshi Reagon, and her own band, Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom.^[1]

Miller has performed with songwriting vocalists Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, and Erin McKeown, and toured with avant-garde saxophonist Marty Ehrlich and organist Doctor Lonnie Smith and folk-rock singer Brandi Carlile.^[2]

Biography

Miller began playing the drums at age 10, and quickly began studying with a top teacher in the Washington D.C. area, Walter Salb. In 1991, she was featured in Downbeat magazine's "Up and Coming" spotlight. She soon began playing in clubs in Washington D.C. and eventually received a Bachelor of Music Performance degree at West Virginia University. After graduating summa cum laude in 1996, she moved to New York City to begin her career as a freelance drummer and continue her studies with Michael Carvin.

Miller has since performed and recorded with Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile, Kenny Barron, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Steven Bernstein, The Meredith Vieira Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Ray Drummond, Ben Allison, Patricia Barber, Peter Bernstein, Erin McKeown, Sheila Jordan, Marty Ehrlich, George Garzone, Melissa Ferrick, Kitty Margolis, Michael Feinstein, Shahin Novrasli, Toshi Reagon, Kevin Mahogany, Ingrid Jensen, Paul Bollenbackn, Mimi Fox, John McNeil, Jenny Scheinman, Virginia Mayhew, Bruce Barth, Mark Soskin, Harvie S, poet Alix Olsen and the band Betty. Miller's drumming and composing have also been featured on the Showtime hit series, The L Word, ^[3]

In addition, Miller was chosen by the US State Department to tour East Africa, Eurasia and Southeast Asia as a Jazz Ambassador.^[1]

Allison Miller recently founded the "Walter Salb Memorial Scholarship Foundation" in honor of her late teacher and mentor. The foundation annually provides a promising young musician a monetary award directed toward furthering their studies in music.

Miller also holds an adjunct teaching position at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in NYC and gives lessons and master classes at additional universities and high schools throughout the United States, including NYU, UMASS Amherst, University of Alaska, Elon University, University of South Florida, West Virginia University, Berkeley Jazz School, University of the Pacific, UC Berkeley and the University of Maryland. Her writing has been published in DRUM magazine, Tom Tom Magazine, Modern Drummer, and Huffington Post. Miller has been featured in Downbeat, Jazz Times, Tom Tom, Jazziz, DRUM, LA Times, Modern Drummer, All About Jazz NY, and Female Musician magazine.^[4]

Miller identifies as lesbian.^[5]

Discography

• 5am Stroll (Foxhaven Records) (2005)
• At The End of The Day, Agrazing Maze (Foxhaven Records) 2006
• Boom tic Boom (Foxhaven Records) (2010)
• Boom Tic Boom: Live at Wilisau (Foxhaven Records) (2012)
• No Morphine No Lilies featuring Boom Tic Boom (The Royal Potato Family) (2013)
• Otis Was a Polar Bear featuring Boom Tic Boom (The Royal Potato Family) (2016)

Other Projects

• Steampunk Serenade - Honey Ear Trio (Miller, Rene Hart, Erik Lawrence) (2011)
• Swivel - Honey Ear Trio (2016)
• Lean - Lean (Miller, Jerome Sabbagh, Simon Jermyn) (2016)

References

External links

• All About Jazz: Allison Miller Biography
• All About Jazz: Meet drummer Allison Miller
• 2012 Audio Interview with Allison Miller from Podcast "I'd Hit That"