GROVE CITY, Pa. – Nashville-based singer-songwriter John R. Miller will come to Big Rail Brewing on July 13 for a concert that will spotlight his new music.

Miller will release his fifth studio album, “The Great Unknowing,” on Friday in physical formats and July 17 on digital. 

The album showcases Miller at a creative turning point. His newly evolved sound expands beyond his Americana roots into a richer, more exploratory sonic landscape, while maintaining the raw storytelling that has defined his work.

The entire album moves between acoustic intimacy and expansive soundscapes, layering in fiddle, Mellotron, fuzzy electric guitar and lush arrangements.

After a year of demoing at home and testing the songs on the road, Miller knew he needed a change of scenery for inspiration when it came to recording the music. He found that at Leon Russell’s Church Studio in Tulsa, Okla. 

“Immediately, the gears started turning,” he said in a news release. “Tulsa is one of the great legacy-bearing cities of American music – J.J. Cale is one of my all-time favorites, and Shelter Records was based there. So much of what I love in music history happened right around that block.”

The first track off the album, “Tollbooth,” has already been released, with a video of Miller performing the song before an audience at The Church.

The track was inspired by the changes in scenery he viewed while touring on the road.

“You tend to explore that territory in songs when you’re doing it a lot, but some of them, like ‘Tollbooth,’ seem to be more about witnessing American decay,” Miller said. “It can be hard to notice changes as they happen when you’re living in a place, but when you revisit the same places over time, you get a sense for how the landscape is shifting, both literally and figuratively.”

Miller’s decision to release the album on physical formats first stems from his love of record stores.

“I’m hoping to encourage folks to visit their local record and CD shops, or to order the album directly,” he said. “Maybe I’m a romantic, but I want to see the places I love, brick-and-mortar shops you can walk into with music and books and art made by humans, continue to exist into the future, and I want the culture around these places to thrive with diverse thought and taste.”

To order the album, click HERE.

Born in the Washington, D.C., area and raised in West Virginia, Miller has been a boundary-pushing voice in alt-country and Americana, drawing from punk, traditional Appalachian music and less conventional rock influences. 

Tickets for the all-ages show at Big Rail are $15.81 and can be purchased in advance HERE. The show will start at 7 p.m.

Big Rail is at 2158 Mercer Butler Pike. Its stage is outdoors in a wooded setting near the brewery and taproom.

Pictured at top: John R. Miller. (Photo by Larry Nieuhes)