Article and photos by Wendy Podmenik Darugar
Virginia radio station 1490 The Outlaw Country, based at the Langley Speedway in Hampton, recently hosted four bands in their 3rd annual Fall Festival line up. The Outlaw focuses on classic Country music greats such as George Strait, Johnny Cash, and Brooks and Dunn, and works locally to promote and encourage original Country bands in featured performances. Emceed by American Idol finalist Joey Cook, the event also fundraised for The Farmer Veteran Coalition, a non-profit organization that connects military veterans with training and careers on American farms.
The day’s line up started with The Bill Miles Band, and I was able to ask singer/songwriter Bill Miles a few questions after the show:
Monkeygoose: When did you start writing your own songs?
Bill Miles: It was on a Wednesday night, it seemed like a good night to do so. My friend Paul had been telling me to stop playing other peoples’ music, and to write my own, so I did. I wrote a song called “Blues Room”. “An old upright and guitars litter the room, ash trays and old bottles they do, too.” That’s the first few lines of what turned into years of songwriting and music. It could have happened on a Friday but it was a Wednesday, an open mic about ten years ago. To all the musicians out there, write something, you do it only once, then there is no looking back.
Monkeygoose: In what musical genre would you classify yourself?
Bill Miles: The Bill Miles Band is made up of a collection of wonderful musicians and that includes our current and former members. Glenn Woodell and myself are the founders of the band. We have been blessed to play with some great vocalists and instrumentalists. We have come far enough down this musical path that festival organizers and fundraising folks call us because they are looking for that cool East Coast Country folk rock sound the band is know for.
Monkeygoose: Two of my favorite songs off of your “Peace and Music” CD are the title track, “Peace and Music” and “Mountain of Love”. What was the inspiration for these songs?
Bill Miles: “Mountain of Love” is a song that was hard to write, I wrote a few lines and knew there was a cool song in there but it took about a year to write. I was trying to write about that old saying “the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill”. That hill turned into the mountain of love. “Peace and Music” owes its start to Arlo Guthrie. He was doing a show in Hampton. I arrived at this little coffee shop to play an acoustic set and everyone was talking about Arlo Guthrie. Arlo had just left the coffee shop but I never got to meet him. But I thought it was cool that I could have been sitting in the same chair Arlo was sitting in. I listed to a bunch of Arlo Guthrie songs for a few days and wrote ”Peace and Music”.
Monkeygoose: The Bill Miles Band has been a part of the Hampton Roads musical scene for three years. So far, what have been your personal highlights?
Bill Miles: The people we have met. They are amazing, whether they are fans or organizers, and other musicians have been fantastic and so supportive. I think that another amazing thing about the East Coast music scene is that it is alive with some of the best music found anywhere. We have played at too many festivals to name, twice we have played at The 757 Country Fest at the NorVa, and at every event I feel like the real highlight was and always will be our supportive fans, friends and family.
Monkeygoose: What is in Bill Miles’ future?
Bill Miles: We will be recording another album, and 1490 Outlaw Country, the coolest radio station in our home town, just started playing our music. And we are going to do what Paul told us to do years ago: we are going to write some more songs.
Following The Bill Miles Band, the next featured artists in the line up were Sour Mash Revival, Crazy X, and 1490 The Outlaw’s official band, Mason Brown and the Shiners. Joey Cook joined the Mason Brown Band for four songs during their performance, including “Dream a Little Dream” and “Sweet Pea”. All in all, it was a day filled with good music for a good cause.
http://www.1490live.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Sour-Mash-Revival
http://www.joeycookmusic.com/