Acoustic musicians, singer/songwriters, brothers; The Miller Twins have been carving out a distinct path in the Central Oregon music scene for years. Ben Miller and Nat Miller make up the talented duo whose music transcends genre descriptions.
From the two brothers' earliest days, music constantly echoed through the household, ranging from classic rock to indie folk.
"We were born in the '70's and were raised on MTV and VH1," Nat Miller said. "We've always been drawn to that acoustic sound. People kind of classify us as bluegrass and folk but we don't think that's all we do. We're not really bluegrass and we're not really folk. We're just ourselves."
"We play what we like," Ben Miller agreed.
Drawing inspiration from their diverse musical upbringing, the results are a fusion that feels both familiar and groundbreaking, like when Kurt Cobain and Nirvana performed on MTV Unplugged, singing almost exclusively covers for two hours. There's little that connects the Miller Twins to mid-'90s grunge fury, but both Ben and Nat admit that watching groups like Nirvana and others perform on the Unplugged series brought both of them a sense of wonder and inspiration.
The singer/songwriters' ability to blend genres and their own distinct sounds has given the group a sterling reputation, with performances at the Sisters Folk Festival and the Rock and Grass Music Festival.
Behind the scenes, the two thrive on a completely transparent collaborative energy that only twin brothers can bring.
"Co-writing for a sibling is great because we hold nothing back," Ben Miller confessed. "When I'm writing songs, I try to find good riffs on guitar. I'm always looking for that groove and however that music moves me, I try to write for that feeling."
"Ben and I were just speaking about how were opposite on this," Nat Miller agreed, "I always come up with my lyrics first. After that, I try to find a melody and then I try to find the key I want to sing in and I go from there."
With concert dates on the horizon and whispers of a new recording project in the works, the Miller brothers are focused on driving the music as far as the two of them can go.
In the early days, "we had two kinds of songs, 'the killers' and 'the fillers,'" explained Ben Miller. "We had those songs that we love to play, and we had ones that we played just to fill time in the set list. I think the goal of every musician is to get to the point where every song played is in that 'killer' category."
As the twins continue to navigate the unpredictable ocean of the music industry, the group is organizing a career move to singing/songwriting full time in the coming years, and has performances scheduled in Nashville in the upcoming months.
