Jim Miller (born 1954) is a rock and roll guitarist, singer, teacher, recording artist and band leader in the “jam band” genre’. He has performed with Oroboros and his present group, JiMiller Band. He has also founded and organized several events, including co-founding the Rock & Reggae Festival and founding Lazy Daisy and DeadFall at Nelson Ledges State Park in northeast Ohio. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Personal history
Miller was born July 2, 1954, at the historic St. Ann's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a wife, Beth, a son named Michael who plays guitar in the JiMiller Band, and two stepchildren, Reid and Sarah Street.
Oroboros
Miller co-founded Oroboros in 1980 as a Grateful Dead tribute band, which soon generated original music in the jam band genre. It was named for the ouroboros, an ancient symbol for infinity, depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. Among the bands they have opened for are Go Ahead (with members of the Grateful Dead and Santana), The Radiators, Black Uhuru, Santana and Rusted Root.[1] They co-founded the Rock & Reggae Festival in 1984 with First Light at Meadowoods Farm, originally as a benefit for the Cleveland Free Clinic.[2] They performed until 1998, produced five albums, and played a reunion concert in 2003.
Past members
Jim Miller (guitar & vocals)
Bill Cogan (guitar & vocals)
Mary Beth Cooper (vocals, etc.)
Gary Maxwell (bass)
Rocky Miller (keyboards)
Rob Luoma (drums).
Dave Downing (bass)
Don Safranek (percussion)
Will Douglas (drums)
Scott Swanson (bass)
Mike Rotman (keyboard, guitar, percussion)
Mike Verbick (guitar)
Michael Bradley (keyboards, vocals)
Ned Kalafat (bass)
Highlights
1984 - Co-Founded the Rock & Reggae Festival with the band First Light
The JiMiller Band was founded in 1998 by Jim Miller, continuing to play the style of jam band music Miller played with Oroboros. They have performed since their founding, sharing the stage with such notable bands and artists as String Cheese Incident, Galactic, Bruce Hornsby, Little Feat, Rusted Root and the Rhythm Devils, and produced four CDs.[4]
Earlybird Gathering Simply Groovy by Malcolm X Abram, April 23, 2010, The 330 [1]
Grateful Dead at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Poet Mark Kuhar and Rocker Jim Miller Pay Homage by Michael Norman, March 22, 2012, The Plain Dealer[2]
‘In trance it,’ latest JiMiller Band CD, debuts in Lakewood by Charles Cassady in West Life News [3]
Jam Bands: North America's Hottest Live Groups Plus How to Tape and Trade Their Shows by Dean Budnick - ECW Press, 1998 ISBN9781550223538
Jammin' Again: The Midwest's First Jam Band Reunites at the Grog Shop by D.X. Ferris, October 6, 2004, The Cleveland Scene [4]
