Hannah Miller - Into The Black (2007)

Raised in Dothan, Alabama and educated in the mountains of Asheville, NC, Miller now makes Columbia, SC her home. After her first studio EP Storms of Summer was released in the spring of 2006, Miller's reputation as an up and coming singer/songwriter began to solidify, and the doors began to open for her to make the trip up to Nashville to record with two time Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay, Bebo Norman). With the help of a handful of Nashville talents (including Andrew Osenga of Caedmon's Call, Steve Mason and Matthew Odmark of Jars of Clay), the record boasts an astounding degree of depth and maturity for a freshman LP. Dane and Miller have crafted gorgeous sonic landscapes befitting of Miller's smoky, velveteen vocals. Of the new record Miller says, 'I wanted an album that everyone who hears it can find themselves in, and I think we accomplished that. The music is authentic, and listeners immediately identify that.' The most surprising achievement of Into the Black is the ease with which Miller moves from solemnity to playfulness and back. One moment she chronicles the fall of humanity and the search for innocence on "Ever Since Eve", and the next moment she muses on the centripetal force of irrational love on "In So Deep". Somehow she is able to weigh in on these extreme poles of human experience-and everything in between-without creating a bit of whiplash. Better still-the songs in this collection thus lend themselves splendidly to live performance. They're songs everyone has lived in themselves. With the record slated for release in January, 2008, Hannah Miller is gearing up for a busy year of touring, promoting the album, and taking the music scene by storm. Look for her in a town near you.