Buddy Miller
Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
February 23, 2005

By Kevin J. Hosey

The 100-mile drive to Toronto from Buffalo that Val and I took for the Buddy Miller concert at the Horseshoe Tavern may have been the best journey we’ve taken for music since we joined three other people in a minivan to drive straight from here to Austin for South by Southwest 2001.

Playing with three other musicians (bass, drums and steel guitar/dobro/keyboards and percussion), Miller was in an apparently upbeat mood for most of the show that stretched 24 songs over 2 1/2- 3 hours,
hitting basically all parts of his career as well as adding a few well-chosen cover songs, including his opener, “Sing Me Back Home.” He followed this with one of many songs off his recent CD, “Universal United House of Prayer,” a fine version of “Shelter Me” he and wife Julie Miller wrote. Next came “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger,” a tune from "Cruel Moon” that got one of many loud roars from the more than appreciative audience. It appears that Miller hasn’t played often, if at all, in Toronto, and he has never played as a headliner in Buffalo (his last time through Buffalo was in Emmylou Harris’ Spyboy band).

A version of “Price of Love” really kicked up some dust, particularly a fiery, grinding guitar solo from Miller that was neither overdone in playing nor length; somehow, near the end of the song, he played an even wilder solo that left the crowd screaming for more. Miller smartly changed the pace with a beautiful “My Love Will Follow You,” a soft song and one of many he introduced while mentioning how he missed Julie, who was not feeling too good. He thanked an audience member who asked him about Julie before the song.

A cover of the Louvin Brothers’ “There’s a Higher Power” off his new CD was not only cheered, but the audience, unasked, took over singing the call-and-response chorus; Miller, playing mandolin and smiling ear-to-ear, let the audience sing on its own for a bit. Sticking with “Universal United House of Prayer,” Miller and band followed this with “Worry Too Much,” with Bryan Owings’ drums leading a real gospel rock stomp. Miller, a recent Grammy Award nominee, related a humorous story of his reaction and attendance of the awards program, frequently returning to the one thing besides an unexpected Grammy win (which didn’t happen) that he looked forward to: the food, which he said was even better than expected, adding that Jim Lauderdale’s jacket was also, um, awe inspiring. This led to a crunching version of the Miller-Lauderdale tune on the new CD, “Returning.” Miller again adeptly changed the tempo with his raw but gorgeous cover of Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. He followed this with another “cover,” a smart version of Julie’s “All My Tears (Be Washed Away).” With the crowd just able to catch its breath, Miller then performed “Quecreek,” and next changed the emotional pace with the upbeat, fun, romantic “Little Bitty Kiss.” Not that this mood lasted too long; Miller and his band, bassist Denny Bixby, Owings and multi-instrumentalist Phil Madeira, launched into an intense, burning “Midnight and Lonesome,” with Miller’s guitar and plaintive, twangy singing convincing anyone not sure of his heartbreak that he felt this bad. Miller returned to his love lost/yearning mode with “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” lightening things with a romp through “You Can’t Judge a Book,” with his guitar and Madeira’s organ playfully cool. The regular part of the concert ended with “Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go.”
The band did not fully leave the stage before coming back for its first encore, which was highlighted by the old country chestnut “Don’t Let that Deal Go Down” and a crazed version of “A Girl Like You,” and Miller didn’t wait long before coming back with his band for a second encore, a 15-minute run through of Bob Dylan’s ”With God on Our Side,” which riveted the crowd. Miller started with his voice and electric guitar, all but spitting out the anti-war message before his band joined in, barely containing the rage. Just after the house lights were turned up, Miller turned to his band, said something, and they picked up their instruments and played one more cover, “God’s Radar is Fixed on You” a song by the Rev. Dan Smith Miller played with Ollabelle when it opened for part of his 2005 tour
Opening the show was Justin Rutledge, a fine Toronto country singer who played songs mainly from his “No Never Alone” CD (thanks to Richard Flohil for sending it). While his CD credits the Junction Forty as his backing band, Rutledge was even more ably backed in this show by Blue Rodeo’s Bob Egan on guitar and steel guitar and Bazil Donovan on bass. “Too Sober to Sleep,” an elegiac, sad song where Rutledge’s inaction may only be less painful than the emotional trouble he is about to enter, was highlighted by some emotive steel guitar from Egan. I hope Rutledge can join the many, but not nearly enough, Canadian bands making it to play in Buffalo,

As if the show itself wasn’t good enough, Val and I got to see a couple of people who made it even more enjoyable. As we entered the concert area of the Horseshoe, one of the persons there said to Val, “hey, didn’t we go to Louisiana together?" It was Julie, a friend who Val hadn’t seen in years but had been part of a group with who went on a road trip to Mamou County and New Orleans in Louisiana and then to Austin. We then met Jacquilynne Schlesier, a Torontonian member of p2 who I knew would be at the show, who joined us in a viewing area to the left of the stage for the show. We picked up a few restaurant and music tips from Jacquilynne between bands.