Contact to book LanDon Lloyd Miller
About
Landon Lloyd Miller makes his own brand of American roots music. It's a southern sound inspired by folk songs, murder ballads, country classics, and everything in between, glued together by a biographical songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose career path is every bit as diverse as his music.
From documentary film production to winemaking, Landon has left his unique mark in multiple areas, juggling a lifelong passion for music — including a long run as frontman of his Shreveport-based "space western" band, The Wall Chargers — with an ever-present desire to create and collaborate. He's a Renaissance man for the modern age, as adept with an acoustic guitar as he is with a movie camera. Light Shines Through, his debut album as a solo artist, finds him turning a new corner, trading The Wall Chargers' larger-than-life stomp for something more insular, introspective, and dynamic.
"I've always been nervous to say something was truly mine, in case someone doesn't like it," Landon admits, who pulls triple-duty as the album's songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-producer. "But Light Shrines Through isn't the work of a person who's hiding behind a band's moniker. It isn't fiction. It's me."
Years before recording Light Shines Through with a rotating cast of collaborators from across the American South, Landon grew up amidst the swamps and fishing villages of northern Louisiana. His father was a minister in a charismatic church, while his mother was a traveling choir director. Gospel music always filled the family's home, and Landon began making music of his own as a child. By 14 years old, he was playing drums during local church services; by 15, he was playing guitar and writing original songs. He dove into the secular work of folksingers like Bob Dylan during his college years, and the impact was monumental. Before long, Landon had expanded his music collection to include Roger Miller, Conor Oberst, Roy Acuff, and the Louvin Brothers — artists who, he says, "were willing to talk about real life, personal troubles, and grey-area scenarios."
After traveling around in his early twenties, Landon returned to Shreveport and put his creative abilities to use as the frontman of The Wall Chargers. The group became a hometown favorite, thanks to a big, brassy sound that made room for psych rock, shoegaze, folk, and soul. Landon wrote the band's songs while also working as a coffee roaster and regional film producer. By the time he launched his solo career in 2020 — a year that also found him leaving Louisiana and resettling in the Texas Hill Country, where he supplemented his work as a musician with a daytime gig as a winemaker — he'd also earned his stripes as a music composer, documentarian, and producer for a regional film company.
That whirl of activity sets the stage for Light Shines Through, an album that reintroduces Landon Lloyd Miller as an autonomous singer/songwriter. It's a wildly diverse record that makes room for confessional piano ballads, cinematic roots rockers, and plenty of troubadour twang. Landon guides a full band through the soulful strut of "Light Is Growing" — a song whose funky undertones shine a light on his Louisiana roots — then takes a minimalist turn with "Landslide," a bare-boned folk song featuring nothing more than harmonica, acoustic guitar, and Landon's timeless, vibrato-laced voice. Songs like "Blue Bonnet" find some middle ground between those two poles, laced with light touches of piano, horns, organ, and percussion. "We didn't throw the kitchen sink at every song," says Landon, who recorded the album with help from musicians in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and other states. "There was reserve. There was restraint. We asked ourselves what each song needed, and we didn't add much beyond that."
These are songs about vulnerability, written and recorded by a man who's learned to embrace both the fear and freedom of a newly-launched solo career. They're songs about life, created by a musicians who's experienced a lot of it. And when darkness creeps in, they're a reminder that the light will always shine through.
Press
"Miller has a head full of ideas, which gives Light Shines Through the mercurial quality of a fever dream marked by flurries of poetry and dramatic shifts in the music."
-Jon Young, No Depression
"Light Shines Through manages to be both refreshingly original and reliably familiar at the same time. A mix of classic roots and country with enough nods to soul and funk to make it stand out. It’s a remarkable debut for Miller who makes the most of his first effort stepping out on his own."
-John Moore, Glide Magazine
“You’ll hear traces of Dylan, The Dead, Roy Orbison & plenty more in the nine superb songs on the talented Texas troubadour's tastefully executed debut full-length.”
-Darryl Sterdan, Tinnitist
"A brilliant beginning, the earnest and evocative Light Shines Through provides a mantra everyone can all take to heart."
-Lee Zimmerman, Goldmine
“Light Shines Through is an enticing slice of folk and alt-country which flirts with southern gothic in no small part due to the singer’s vibrato-tinged vocals and slightly off-kilter lyrical approach.”
-Steve Bell, Rhythms Music Magazine (Australia)
“This is an excellent album of indie / Americana that combines the sound of Donovan (smooth voice, whimsy), Bob Dylan (acoustic sections), Bright Eyes (aka Conor Oberst, for the gentle vocals, general sound) and bands like Midlake...
-Jeremy Condliffe, Congleton Chronicle (UK)
“[Bluebonnet] cuts a snowdrift path between a mellow Jeff Buckley tune and a Bon Iver lovelorn musical soliloquy.”
-Bill Golembeski, Folking
“‘Light is Growing’ is an uplifting dose of positivity in gloomy times...finds Miller confidently following his own musical path, strutting through a tuneful, foot-tapping song with a hint of 1970s rock.”
-Andrew Frolish, Americana UK
Highlights
Debut solo LP Light Shines Through released March 4, 2022 with global promotional team (US, UK, Australia)
US Radio support from WNCW [Spindale, NC], KVMR [Nevada City, CA], KDUR [Durango, CO], WGBK [Glenview, IL], KMNR [Rolla, MO], WLOY [Baltimore, MD], WWUH [W. Hartford, CT], WSOE [Elon, NC], WCSF [Joliet, IL], KSJD [Cortez, CO], KJEE [Santa Barbara, CA], KNBA [Anchorage, AK], WDRT [Viroqua, WI], WODU [Norfolk, VA], WMVY [Martha's Vineyard, MA], KTSW [San Marcos, TX], WPRB [Princeton, NJ], KGLT [Bozeman, MT], WERA-LP [Arlington, VA], WMSE [Milwaukee, WI], WYPA [Birmingham, AL], KFAI [Minneapolis, MN], WLFR [Galloway, NJ], WRRC [Lawrenceville, NJ], WRRG [River Grove, IL], KLCZ [Lewiston, ID], WAWL [Chattanooga, TN], WJCU [Cleveland, OH], KDNK [Aspen, CO] and VIC RADIO [Ithaca, NY]
Coverage from No Depression, Glide Magazine, Listening Through The Lens, Northern Transmissions, The Alternate Root and DittyTV
"Bluebonnet" featured on official Spotify Fresh Folk Finds playlist
Feature article syndicated by Associated Press across 80+ outlets" including San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, and Miami Herald.
US radio support from 30+ stations
Radio support from Triple A in Brisbane, Australia
“Bluebonnet” music video aired on CMT’s "Fresh Country”, “Fresh in the US & Canada” and “Alt-Country” and Ditty TV
Performed at Demon Fest, Mayfest, Red River Revel, Louisiana Music Prize, SXSW, Secret Stages and Valley of the Vapors
Shared the stage with Of Montreal, Father John Misty, Glen Hansard, Dylan LeBlanc, Suzanne Santo, Shawn James, Abram Shook, Seratones, Kyle Craft, Daniel Romano, The Lonesome Heroes, Big Cedar Fever, and The Octopus Project.
Collaborated with Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes), Any LeMaster (Bright Eyes), Kyle Craft, Ian Romano (Daniel Romano Outfit), Big Cedar Fever
Featured on the following playlists: The AU Review's Discovery, The Independent UK "Now Hear This" playlist, The Weekly Soundtrack, Our Sound and Amnplify.
Landon's songs have appeared in films including Mr. Marvelous, Clowns & Robbers, The Fosters, Cut To The Chase, and The Paranormals
Featured on The Bluegrass Situation Class of 2022 playlist
