PureVolume

Members: Joe Miller

Local singer gets a shot at New York City audience
John P. Cleary
May 14, 2006

For years, singer/songwriter Joe Miller has been content to play local clubs and coffee shops.

Miller, a Mansfield University sophomore and 2004 Edison High School graduate, still enjoys doing that.

He and a friend arranged a version of Elton John's "Rocket Man" that has a kind of cult following around campus, he said.

But, as satisfying as playing the local scene can be, every musician dreams of something a little bigger. Joe is no exception. That's why he's so excited about his May 27 gig.

Joe will sing at the Lion's Den, a club near New York University in New York City.

It's just a one-night stand and isn't likely to lead to fortune and fame, but to Miller, it's a dream come true.

I first met Joe in 2003 when he was a junior at Edison just starting to perform.

To me, he seemed green but confident, inexperienced but clearly talented.

Three years later and with lots of performances under his belt, Joe said he's ready for New York.

You can credit his Big Apple booking to persistence and patience. He has a friend who is studying music management at NYU, and he asked her to look around and see whether there were any venues he might be a good fit for.

One of the clubs she suggested was the Lion's Den.

Joe e-mailed the club's entertainment booker in January.

"I said, 'I'd really like to play at your venue,' " Joe said. "I sent him my biography, but told him I've only really played around our area."

The booker didn't sign Joe right up, but he didn't snuff out his hopes, either.

He told Joe to contact him again in April to discuss the possibility of an early summer show.

"I was waiting and waiting for April 1st," Joe said.

In the meantime, Joe looked into the Lion's Den's history a little bit.

What he found wasn't encouraging. The club had hosted nationally known acts like Dashboard Confessional, Phish and Sister Hazel. Joe found it a little hard to believe they'd be interested in a small-town acoustic act.

Still, he allowed himself the pleasure of the dream.

"April 1st came around, and I forwarded him the e-mail he sent before, so he'd remember," he said.

"He gave me a kind of over-the-e-mail interview. I told him about some Web sites where he could hear my music."

Joe told the booker he could probably count on about 20 friends and family from the Twin Tiers to travel to the show. That seemed to be the clincher. The club offered him a gig.

"He sent an e-mail that said this is a 100 percent a go," Joe said. "I was blown away. I just booked a gig in New York City. I got really excited."

Joe is studying music education at Mansfield, but said with all his experience promoting his own act over the years, he's becoming more and more interested in the business side of music.

Right now, he's concentrating on practicing as the date gets closer.

"I think I'm ready for it," he said. "I'll be bringing down a lot of family and friends. They're all behind me on this. That's a great feeling."