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You are here: Community Features Guitarist Derek Miller rocks out with Gary Farmer and The Troublemakers at Gallup show

Guitarist Derek Miller rocks out with Gary Farmer and The Troublemakers at Gallup show

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Gary Farmer and The Troublemakers came to Gallup and once again brought blues and indigenous music to the Southwest. Performing at the Downtown Gallup Conference Center March 9, Farmer and his fellow musicians brought long-time friend Derek Miller with them to show off the talented guitarist’s shredding skills.

Farmer has toured Gallup numerous times. Miller, who is from the Six Nations tribe in Ontario, is an Aboriginal Canadian singer-songwriter. Farmer says he loves coming back to this area and thought it would be nice to bring Miller with him.

“We love jamming here and bringing our blues music to the area,” Farmer said. “We wanted to introduce Derek and have him jam with us here and see why we like coming here.”

Knifewing Segura of the Downtown Gallup Conference Center says the group consistently puts on an excellent show, and is never disappointing.

“Gary has been here about three times and he’s been doing nothing but great shows and it’s even shocking that he just keeps getting better,” Segura said. “And to add on Derek Miller, who is an awesome guitar player and has got to be one of the best out there.”

Miller has appeared on national television, received two Juno Awards, and has performed at the Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics with Eva Avila and Nikki Yanofsky.

Segura says Miller is definitely one of the hot shots on the indigenous music scene.

“He’s really big time and he’s one of the best no doubt,” Segura said. “He can definitely shred on the guitar and this guy is very talented.”

Miller has been playing music for 30 years. He has won Native American music awards, played with the Double Trouble, which is Stevie Ray Vaughan’s old band, and even sang a duet with Willie Nelson.

Miller spoke about his involvement in Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World, a Canadian documentary film by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana. Rumble looked at the impact of indigenous musicians in Canada and the United States on the development of rock music.

“I had a little part in it and that was kind of fun, I’m just glad that I have that story out and can show the younger people that ancestors have been contributing greatly to American Rock and Roll,” Miller said. “That was a cool project to be a part of.”

Miller also has his own television show in Canada called “The Guilt Free Zone,” which he says he’s been working on for the past three seasons. He’s trying to go for season number four.

“Other than all that, I’ve just been tooting around making music you know, making a living and giving people some medicine,” he said. “I’m always working on new stuff. I’m getting ready to start releasing singles in Canada and my television show songs I’ve been writing. I’m also trying to get into the studio and do another new record, that’s one of main priorities right now. I have a lot of songs written, it’s just a matter of getting into the studio and the time to do all this. I’m looking forward to doing that in the near future real quick.”

Farmer and Miller have been friends for a long time. Miller says Farmer has been a tremendous support in his life.

“Gary and I have been friends forever. He used to pick me up and we’d head off to the casinos,” Miller said, laughing. “Gary has always been a supportive person in any kind of indigenous art, and him being from where I am from, he would come home and we hang out. I would show him some of my new music, and we would always keep in contact and I would watch him try to play blues for a long time. Eventually, he started getting better and better, so I would go out and hang with him. He wanted me to play guitar with him. Here I am out on the road with him and it’s always been a hoot and a holler.”

With regards to indigenous music, Miller says there will always be a need for it. The indigenous influence has always been there, whether in blues or rock n’ roll. To Miller, indigenous music is more than just music: it’s healing medicine for all.

“There’s always been a need for it, that’s a part of our healing,” Miller said. “It’s our medicine for indigenous artists like Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, all these cats like who paved the way for us. In essence, indigenous music has always been there in American contemporary music fabric, it’s great that it’s being acknowledged more, there’s more young guys coming up and doing a lot more great things. I’m really stoked about the future of indigenous music, I think it’s an exciting time and I can’t wait to see what people come up with.”

For more information on Gary Farmer and The Troublemakers visit website Facebook page, and information on Derek Miller, visit their Facebook pages, @troublemakersyeahyeah and @DerikMillerLive.

By Dee Velasco

For the Sun