Human Nature Spring 2002

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Buddy & Julie Miller (Hightone Records, 2001).

Considering all the great country music Buddy and Julie Miller have been making together in recent years, their first joint CD both does, and doesn't, represent a new musical pairing. Every CD each has recorded has been strongly colored by the other. Julie's songwriting and her little-girl voice have embellished Buddy's "solo" work, and Buddy's rootsy guitar-work and twangy vocals have strengthened Julie's albums.

Still, their past recordings could never be confused with one another's. Those who think my opening line about "great country music" is an oxymoron have never listened to Buddy Miller, in whose music they will surely meet every element of stereotypical country, and just as surely be knocked right off their urban high horse. Buddy knows who he is, pours his heart and soul into his music, and surrounds himself with people who do the same: Sam Bush, Emmylou Harris, Al Perkins, Steve Earle. But-warning!-he is very, very country.

On Julie Miller's 1999 masterpiece, Broken Things, on the other hand, her husband's twang slides smoothly into the background, making you think more of folk than country, especially with her rich lyrics floating gently over acoustic soundscapes. Poetry becomes the central focus: "Time and space are relative / Einstein said back when he lived," she sings, "The only thing that doesn't change / Makes everything else rearrange / Is the speed of light, the speed of light / Your love for me must be the speed of light."

With Buddy and Julie Miller, these two voices finally come together in their own right. Julie is the principal songwriter, but the music is more country, with fewer ballads than is typical of Julie's albums. "You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast" ...

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