Trent Miller & The Skeleton Jive

Italian by birth but now residing in London, Trent Miller has been described as the Pete Doherty of the Americana movement. However, with his wistful acid-bite lyrics, mournful, chilling melodies and outlaw, renegade posture, a more suitable comparison might be to that of Gram Parsons or Gene Clark. His original mix of gothic and avant-country have seen the singer-songwriter gain a growing cult following in the underground folk scene since he first brought his music to London in late 2006. As a live performer, drink-fuelled, harmonica clad, with earrings that wouldn’t look out of place on Sitting Bull’s daughter and a voice pitched somewhere between Johnny Cash and Guy Kyser of the legendary Thin White Rope, you have never really seen anything like him. A dandy from the underworld, Trent Miller sings songs about graveyards, empty bottles, cruel love and murder. He flicks away at his guitar with fingers that are so gangly that it can’t strictly be described as a strum and yet couldn’t be explained away as a picking style of any self-respecting guitarist. Yet the sound he evokes is startling. His phrasing is so rich it’s like Leadbelly’s ghost just walked in through the door and declared that the bullshit is over. Trent Miller’s debut album 'CERBERUS' is released on his own Hangman Records label and contains fourteen self composed songs performed by Trent alone, just guitar, harmonica and voice and is already gaining wide acclaim for his brand of gothic inspired country. The record is a one way journey on a railroad heading straight to Hell, an opiate-induced nightmare populated with junkies, hopeless losers and demons that has been described as ‘music for dancing on a grave’. Influenced by the likes of Eddy Arnold, Leadbelly, Joy Division, Gram Parsons, Jimmie Rodgers and the Gun Club, middle of the road or commercial really don’t come in to it. Songs such as Bones Of Milk, Scream Your Last Scream and the haunting campfire lament Coyote will tease the senses and will tantalise your inner soul. One thing is for certain, you will never have heard anything quite like it before, 'CERBERUS' is one of a kind, totally unique. During 2010 Trent Miller will be touring in support of the release of 'CERBERUS' with The Skeleton Jive that comprises Shou Jie Eng on violin, bassist Jim Taylor and percussionist Anders Dal. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.