Lisa Miller is an Australian singer/songwriter known for her clear, bitter-sweet voice and poignant semi-biographical songs.
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Miller grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Chadstone, the daughter of social realist painter Peter Miller. Her elder brother Lewis Miller, is also a painter, and won the 1998 Archibald Prize.[1]
She started writing songs at fourteen and has memories of being in a folk music duo with a friend: "I played flute, she played guitar and sang, and we wore matching paisley dresses that went to the floor, and played at coffee houses where people drank hot chocolates with marshmallows."
Her first serious musical outing was as vocalist of the rock group The Hepeleptics in the 1980s, while working as a secondary school teacher. She then became vocalist and rhythm guitarist for The Whole Shebang. In 1989 she took an extended trip to the U.S. to see friends and hear as much music as possible in legendary locations (Memphis, Nashville, Austin, New Orleans, San Francisco). She returned to Melbourne and formed her own roots rock band, The Trailblazers (later known as Truckasaurus) with Mark Ferrie (ex-Models and Sacred Cowboys). They favoured original material by Miller or Ferrie. She also sang in the trio The Everlovin' O'Sheas. Of these early ventures only The Whole Shebang and Truckasaurus issued any recordings.
In 1995 Miller released two EPs on the In'Law label as a solo artist: Do That For You and All Worked Out. Her debut album, Quiet Girl with a Credit Card, followed in 1996 on the W.Minc label. It was also issued in the U.K. on Demon Records, to date her only release outside of Australia. It was three years until her second album, As Far as a Life Goes, which also appeared on the W.Minc label but released by the now defunct Festival Mushroom Records. She was nominated that year for the Best Female Artist ARIA Award - a notable achievement for an artist with no commercial radio airplay.
After sorting out troubles with her record companies, Miller released an album of cover versions in 2002 for the fledgling Melbourne label Raoul Records (run by her husband Ben Lempriere). The album, Car Tape, found Miller in a country-soul vein and was a critical success. As on earlier recordings, Miller's choice of cover songs leant heavily towards cult U.S. male singer/songwriters such as Doug Sahm and Townes Van Zandt. Miller's profile - while still small outside Melbourne's inner-city suburbs - began to grow. A new backing band contained seasoned session musicians, she received multiple ARIA nominations, and Car Tape went on to be one of the best-selling Australian independent releases of 2002.
In 2003 she released her fourth album, Version Originale, a CD of original compositions, that was also warmly received by critics.
With her band (featuring guitarist and producer Shane O'Mara), Miller has been a sporadic live performer in and around Melbourne, with forays up the east coast of Australia, including the Byron Bay Blues Festival. She has played with Billy Bragg and toured Australia with Neil Young and Nick Cave. She has also appeared on recordings by Australian musicians David McComb, Tim Rogers, Tex Perkins, Andy Baylor, Barb Waters, Doug Mansfield, Amanda Brown (of The Go-Betweens) and David Chesworth. At one time she was managed by the late Mick Geyer (close associate of Nick Cave), but is now self-managed.
In 2004 Miller released the EP, Pushover, which features five songs recorded live on the 2003 Neil Young tour. She was again nominated in the Best Female Artist category at the 2004 ARIA Awards, at which - once again - she was beaten by Kasey Chambers.
Miller collaborated with composer Amanda Brown on a number of songs for the award winning film Look Both Ways but only one song (entitled "Eleven") made the final selection.
In 2005 she recorded a version of the Split Enz song "I Hope I Never" for She Will Have Her Way, a tribute album of female Australian and New Zealand artists performing the works of Tim and Neil Finn. This album was nominated for an 2006 ARIA award under "Best Adult Contemporary Artist".
Her fifth album Morning in the Bowl of Night was released in March 2007, many of the songs focussing around the death of Miller's mother. In early 2008 Morning in the Bowl of Night was shortlisted for the prestigious Australian Music Prize.
As of 2006 Miller's band consists of: