The Gangster is back!

In his first new album in almost twenty years, Steve Miller returns with the same sleek blues-rock sound that made his music some of the best-loved records of his generation. He is currently putting finishing touches on what remains of more than three dozen tracks he cut in March 2008 at the magnificent orchestral recording studios at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch with Led Zeppelin engineer Andy Johns behind the board. 

Joining the Steve Miller Band is the first new member since Miller reunited his finest backup musicians of his career more than twenty years ago, vocalist Sonny Charles, a rhythm and blues veteran and founding member of the Checkmates. Charles lived and worked in Las Vegas with his lifelong musical partner Marvin “Sweet Louis” Smith, who died in December 2007, which paved the way for Charles joining forces with the Miller band. 



The Steve Miller Band continues to be one of the top concert attractions on the road every summer. Songs such as “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Rock ‘n Me,”
“The Joker,” “Jet Airliner,” “Livin’ In the U.S.A.” continue to air daily on classic rock stations across the country. His “Greatest Hits” album sold more than 18 million copies. Steve Miller is one of rock’s all-time greats, at the peak of his performing powers, with a new album coming that could easily be one of the best in his career. 

Miller first emerged as a headliner at the Fillmore Auditorium during the Summer of Love, but his roots go back even further. He learned his first guitar chords from Les Paul (his father was best man at Les Paul and Mary Ford’s wedding) and T-Bone Walker taught20him how to play lead. He started his first band at age 12 and by the time he was 15 years old, he was backing up Jimmy Reed in Dallas nightclubs. 

His Goldberg-Miller Blues Band blasted out of the Chicago club scene in 1966 with a hit single, a nationwide TV appearance on “Hullabaloo,” and a New York nightclub residency where the band took over from the Young Rascals. He returned to Chicago and played guitar in the Buddy Guy band before pitching all his gear in a Volkswagen bus and heading to San Francisco. 

His first night in San Francisco, with five dollars in his pocket, Miller sat in with Chicago buddies the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at the Fillmore Auditorium (it was the same night that Grace Slick first sang with the Jefferson Airplane). He announced from the stage that he was moving to town and starting a band and received a standing ovation. 

The Steve Miller Blues Band was one of the outstanding acts to appear on the historic Monterey Pop Festival, although few remember Miller was even there because his hippie manager wouldn’t allow him to be in the movie. When his high school pal and bandmate Boz Scaggs showed up in San Francisco that fall, Miller made room in the band for him. The Steve Miller Band recorded its debut album in London with engineer Glyn Johns, in between his work on Beatles sessions. 

Deejay Tom Donahue chose the title track to “Children of the Future” as the first track to be played on the country’s first ‘round-the-clock FM rock radio station when KSAN went on the air in June 1968. Miller’s early albums were staples of the burgeoning underground radio format, featuring tracks like “Space Cowboy,” “Kow Kow Calqulator” and “Going To Mexico.” With his 1973 No. 1 hit, “The Joker,” Miller moved into a different category. 

By the time he had released his multi-million-selling albums “Fly Like an Eagle” and “Book of Dreams” within a year of each other, Miller was playing to sold out crowds at football stadiums and universally recognized as one of the great names in the golden era of rock. He is cited as a vital influence on musicians as diverse as Sheryl Crow and Kenny Chesney. His album tracks have been used in movie soundtracks and commercials all over the world. His greatest hits album is one of the best-selling records of all time. 

With his new record, Miller harnesses once again the trademark sound of his trilogy -- “The Joker,” “Fly Like An Eagle,” “Book Of Dreams” – more classic rock from the man some call Maurice, the one and only Stevie “Guitar” Miller, the Gangster of Love. Coming your way in about a minute. 

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