[Tim Bowen]

Huge Buddy and Julie Miller fan here. I can't imagine him being "green", but I guess the off night is possible for anyone. I've heard of Jeff Beck having off nights, although I've never personally witnessed one myself.

One of the many things I really love about Buddy Miller - and God, I wish more musicians with facility and chops had the mature presence of mind to embrace this mindset - is that he's only going to burn down the barn if the tune calls for it. If butt-simple parts are what's needed for the song, that's exactly what he'll play. Perhaps somewhat of a stretch stylistically, but he reminds me a bit of Pat Metheny (think Pat's arrangement of "Spiritual") in this respect.

Earlier this afternoon, I was working on my arrangement of Buddy's arrangement of Utah Phillips' tune "Rock Salt and Nails" (wow, what a mouthful) with a mandolin student. At one point, my student, an older gentleman, commented, "Tell you what... I did some searches prior to our lesson, and listened to various versions of that tune, and nothing compares to the Buddy Miller arrangement; he took those spooky lyrics and did them justice. And the harmonies with Julie just drive the point home more. Thanks for turning me on to it!" To which I replied, "My pleasure, that's my job."

I congratulate Buddy Miller on this achievement, and could not possibly agree more with Grant Alden's words.