Episode 66: Rob Miller
I sat down with Rob Miller to discuss his new book “The Hours are Long but the Pay is Low; a Curious Life in Independent Music”. Rob was co-founder of the Bloodshot Records label here in Chicago, which featured independent artists that blended the spirit of punk and country music.
Although Bloodshot nurtured unknown artists into grammy winners and sellers of hundreds of thousands of albums, Miller and the label remained fiercely independent for more than 25 years, helping build the music community in Chicago and prioritizing off-the-beaten-path showcases, indie record stores, and music venues like the ones Miller worked at in his boyhood city of Detroit as a stage manager, roadie, and end-of the-night custodian.
It’s a great book that weaves a funny and compelling underdog story of the championing of music and musicians that would have otherwise likely fallen through the cracks of the corporate music complex; Rob was a fun guest with a fascinating tale to spin.
A life in 300 words or less
Born in Detroit, raised in its environs. Growing up, interests were limited to Detroit Tigers baseball, Daffy Duck cartoons, Mark Twain short stories, and avoiding most social interactions.
At some point in the middle of a Devo concert in high school, I found music. After that, I became an inveterate crate-diver, college DJ, stagehand, stage manager, production manager, fanzine writer, and music obsessive.
In 1991, I burned out on music and moved to Chicago to escape it. In that, I failed miserably.
In 1993, I co-founded the independent record label Bloodshot Records. Over the next 28 years, I worked to make it in an internationally renowned home for punk-inspired roots music, Americana, and “alt-country.”
My essays, reviews, and rants have appeared in Blurt, No Depression, Magnet, Detroit Metro Times, New City, Original Cool, Chin Music, Soup & Bread cookbooks, dozens of fanzines, numerous Man Yells at Cloud letters to the editor, several grimy dressing room walls, and any number of snide notes left under wipers questioning the owner’s commitment to civil society after seeing them use their phone while driving or toss litter out their window.
Also: "Rust Never Keeps: Notes from the Detroit Diaspora," in Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology, edited by Martha Bayne (Belt Publishing, 2017)
"Ravenswood Gardens: Chicago River Life," in The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook, edited by Martha Bayne (Belt Publishing, 2019)
I currently host the “Miller’s Cave” radio show on WRHC-FM, Sawyer, MI
While I no longer follow baseball, I still watch Daffy Duck, read Mark Twain, and avoid most social interactions. To paraphrase that Meatloaf fella, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad.
