Mission of Burma
Thurs., March 12. Middle East Down.
Benefit for Jeff Connoly (Monoman). The band will play a very short set, early in the evening.
Trinary System
Trinary System’s new album, The Hard Machine on Cuneiform Records, can be listened to and purchased HERE.
Chain D.L.K. 4.5/5 stars.
“(The Hard Machine) is a band record in the old, honorable sense: three people locked into a shared logic, alert, slightly antagonistic, and visibly enjoying the tension… It’s not a victory lap, nor a statement of defiance. It’s something rarer: a record made by musicians who trust process over myth, curiosity over comfort… Even the final track, “Sometimes the Rain Fall in Your Favor”, avoids resolution. It doesn’t end the record so much as loosen its grip, as if to say: this continues whether you’re listening or not.” Vito Camarretta.
Broken Silence (Germany)
“…Trinary System presents their new album…between art rock, experimental pop, and instrumental storytelling, feeling both complex and immediate. The band combines organic timbres with electronic structures, layering with transparency, energy with melancholy. …Between pulsating grooves, poetic textures, and shimmering guitar lines, musical spaces emerge that range from introspective fragility to eruptive power. The album plays with contrasts – between control and chaos, catchiness and abstraction. … “The Hard Machine” is a multifaceted statement from a band that defies easy categorization yet remains instantly recognizable.
Upcoming Shows:
Thurs., March 19: Myrtle, Providence, R.I. Sapling opening.
Fri., March 20: Marigold, Easthampton, MA. Sapling and Bunnies opening.
Sat., March 21: The Crystal Ballroom, Somerville, MA. Opening for The Bags. This will sell out quickly.
For those of you who want to watch Andrew nail the bass part for the post-King Crimson-esque “Green Wall”, well, HERE is your chance!
UnPlugged from a Band
Miller’s solo guitar/voice work has developed considerably over the last year. With the judicious use of loops to amplify the groove or for soloing over, these new songs have more to do with words than much of his recent composing on guitar.
An album is due in Sept., 2026, on Don Giovanni Records. Miller has already recorded 5 of the 10 tracks, and the others will be tracked in February at the amazing Guilford Sound Recording studio.
Upcoming Shows:
Sun., Feb.1 at 4:00pm, Feeding Tube Records, Florence, MA
B.Mez
B. Mez, the improvisational trio formed by Michael Bierylo, Ken Field, and Rick Scott of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, often performs live with one guest musician. In this case, Mr. Miller was the guest musician for a three-day recording session of improvisations in 2019. This session is finally seeing the light of day. “Under Circuitous Skies” will be released by Cuneiform Records as digital and CD, on Feb.27, 2026.
Mr. Miller is quite pleased to be on this recording and reuniting with good friends and bandmates: it is at turns ambient, psychedelic, and trance-inducing.
Visual Art
I have kept up my sketch-book work. Sometimes the results are so-so, but sometimes quite something. I am gathering tools for expanding this work on paper and vinyl (palm-sanded to create a blank “canvas”). This work will be drawing and etching: I am not a painter. When I paint, I am trying to do something. When I draw, I am doing something.
I plan to work on this a lot in the coming year.
Anvil Orchestra
Winter is usually slow for the group.
The new score for 2026 will likely be “Berlin: Symphony of a City”.
Upcoming Shows:
Jan. 27: Colgate University, Hamilton, NY. The Adventures of Prince Achmed.
Mar.14 and 15: JxJ Jewish Film Festival, Washington, DC. Man with the Movie Camera
Childhood Psychedelia
This is the only example of my High School psychedelic lettering for rock clubs in Ann Arbor, in this case summer 1969. The Hullabaloo (which in 1970 became The Big Steel Ballroom) was a year or so after the demise of the legendary 5th Dimension (see “cocktail” napkin below).
For both clubs I did simple psychedelic lettering in return to get into the clubs for free. Kind of a work/study program. SRC was a very psychedelic Ann Arbor band, fairytale lyrics and all, sounding a bit like Procol Harum perhaps, but without the blues element. Loved their first two albums (RIP Scott Richardson). And, of course, the UP were opening.
