W.D. Miller’s path to his latest release, ‘Child Of The Kindly South,’ runs through decades of playing clubs, small venues, and just about every style of American roots music he could get his hands on.

Growing up in Miami Beach, he passed rock obsessions into hardcore punk, metal, and eventually settling into the folk-leaning songwriting that defines his solo work today. You can hear that history in the new record. These songs feel carried in, written across different years yet circling the same worn truths. Youth gives way to responsibility, mistakes stop being temporary, and the small choices people barely notice start shaping the rest of the story. Love, regret, stubborn pride, and the occasional flash of redemption move quietly through the album, tying it together without ever really announcing themselves.

Producer J. Tom Hnatow keeps the sound very open and atmospheric. Acoustic guitars lead the way, backed by steady rhythm playing and a handful of carefully placed guest parts that never crowd the room too much. The center of it all remains Miller’s voice, a little rough around the edges, steady in the way that comes from singing the same truths for years.

‘Little Things,’ written during the early pandemic months after the birth of his son, catches the record’s spirit best. It’s a song about realizing that what looks like loss from a distance can sometimes be time given back to you. That sense of hard-earned perspective runs through ‘Child Of The Kindly South,’ giving the album the feeling of something lived rather than simply recorded.

‘Child Of The Kindly South’ is available for pre-order on CD, vinyl, and digital formats via Think Like A Key Music, including the translucent “Green River” vinyl edition and a 6-panel digipak CD, both accompanied by high-resolution digital downloads.

“It’s a VERY loose concept album about a young man’s journey.”

It’s really great to have you here. I’ve been enjoying your album a lot, and I’m excited to dig a bit deeper into it. But before we get into that, could you tell us a bit about your background and how you first got into music? Was there a specific moment or artist that really sparked it for you?

W.D. Miller: Thanks, man! I’m from Miami, Florida. Grew up mostly on Miami Beach. When I was 7, we had a music teacher named Capt. Zeleski. One day he brought in Pink Floyd ‘The Wall’ on cassette and played ‘Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2.’ That was all it took for this 7-year-old to become obsessed. My folks were really music-friendly. They took me to see Jethro Tull when I was about 8 or 9. It wasn’t until I saw a Guns N’ Roses live video that I KNEW that’s what I wanted to do. I got my first guitar for my 11th birthday, then around 12 I figured out there was a local scene and that you could just put a band together and go play shows, so I did…

What about your early days as a musician, were you in any bands or projects as a teenager? What were those experiences like, and do you feel they shaped the way you make music today?

When I got my first guitar, my parents put me in classical guitar lessons with a man named Michael Wood. It wasn’t until I was 12 that I really started to focus on being a musician when I started at a new school for my 7th-grade year. Longtime friend Blaise Girard introduced me to a kid named Roger who had a Tascam Porta 07 4-track recorder. We started a band and recorded a ton of experimental songs. From there I picked up playing bass and, at 14, joined a hardcore band called Enemy Against Enemy. We played all over South Florida. At 16 I joined an established death metal band called Hibernus Mortis and played with them into my early 20s.

In my 20s I played in quite a few projects, most successfully a sludge band called Consular, a hardcore band called Mehkago N.T., and at 26 I started writing folk/country songs for a band I started with George Geanuracos (Yankee Roses) called Los Bastardos Magnificos. George is still a collaborator to this day.

<a href="https://wdmiller.bandcamp.com/album/child-of-the-kindly-south">Child Of The Kindly South by W.D. Miller</a>

Roger from Think Like A Key Music mentioned that you’ve known each other for a long time. How did you first meet, and what’s that long-term connection been like over the years?

This is the same Roger that Blaise introduced me to in 7th grade. He taught me about the concept of multitrack recording using that Tascam and a lot of the behind-the-scenes music business mess. We’ve played in a lot of projects together; hell, he helped co-produce and played on my first solo record ‘Burnt Bridges & Broken Hearts’. I’ve probably played on more records and in more projects with Roger than anyone else. He’s been a good friend and bandmate over the past 30 years (only just now realizing it’s been 30 years!). I’m glad we got to work together on this one too, even if it is just back-end stuff.

Jumping to the present now, can you tell us more about the songs on your latest album, ‘Child Of The Kindly South’? What was the idea you were going for with this release?

In a way it’s a VERY loose concept album about a young man’s journey leaving adolescence, when you have no real consequences for your actions, into adulthood, learning about and testing the consequences and entering the second act of life dealing with the results of youthful choices. The songs are about love, loss, failure, and redemption.

Were these songs written specifically for this album, or did some of them come from earlier periods? And how did the recording process go, was it pretty straightforward, or did things evolve along the way?

No, they weren’t, which is why I say it’s a “very loose” concept album. It wasn’t until we were halfway through the recording process that I realized these songs kinda fit into a story. And it may be something only I notice, but I think if you step back and look at the songs macroscopically you can see the connection.

I’m constantly writing. Not everything gets finished, but I’m always trying to solve some type of lyrical or musical puzzle. So some songs are from ideas I had 10+ years ago and some things I came up with on the spot in the vocal booth.

Recording was straightforward, but it absolutely evolved along the way. We started with just me and the rhythm section (Robby Cosenza on drums and producer J. Tom Hnatow on bass) listening to the demos and figuring out where to take the songs. From there we tracked the 3 of us live, and then we brought in a cast of friends to overdub specific touches we felt the individual songs needed while trying to make sure they all fit on the same album.

I’d love to hear more about the individual tracks too. Are there any songs that feel especially personal to you, or that have an interesting story behind them?

‘Little Things’ is the most personal.

I wrote it right when everything shut down during COVID. I woke up one morning and I was feeling pretty down thinking about all I “lost.” Not being able to tour and play music. My son had been born a few months earlier, and when I saw him I realized I hadn’t lost anything but gained time with my boy.

What was it like working with producer J. Tom Hnatow? How did that collaboration influence the final sound of the album?

Tom is the best. I worked with him once before on my single ‘Life in the City,’ and I immediately knew I wanted him to do my next full-length. He really knows how to bring the best version of you out and make sure you stay on track. I have ADD bad, so someone that can keep me focused is invaluable. It’s not so much that he specifically influenced the final sound on the album, but more that he made sure we achieved the sound we set out to by steering the ship in the right direction.

This is not your first album, how would you compare it to ‘Burnt Bridges & Broken Hearts’ from 2018?

The main differences are budget. ‘Burnt Bridges & Broken Hearts’, everything had to be done in-house by Roger and me, whereas with ‘Child Of The Kindly South’ I was able to delegate a lot of the work…

We recorded Burnt Bridges & Broken Hearts with 0 budget, so most of it was accomplished by calling in favors. I had access to a Masonic lodge in Hialeah, FL, so we set up a makeshift studio there one weekend to knock out the basic rhythm tracks. Luckily we have some very talented friends, because the musicians playing on it are whichever of our friends were available at the time. We did some of the overdubs and vocals in my living room, dubbed guitars in my friend’s NYC apartment, and I did the basic mixes in the LaGuardia airport terminal waiting for my flight, with my buddy Chaz doing the final mixing and mastering. Also, BB&BH is mostly co-writes with George because half the songs were unreleased or reimagined Los Bastardos Magnificos songs. ‘Child Of The Kindly South’ is the opposite almost all the way through. Recorded in a studio, with a producer, hired musicians; all but two songs were solo writes (one LBM song and one a Yankee Roses cover). It felt much more focused and intentional from start to finish.

Your music blends a lot of folk, country, and Americana influences, and the lyrics feel very personal and honest. Where do you usually draw inspiration from when you’re writing? Is it real-life experiences, stories, or something else?

I tend to be a pretty emotional writer. When I was younger it was anger that fueled my lyrics, but as I’ve gotten older sadness and regret have seeped in. Most songs start from real-life experiences, with storytelling filling in the gaps when needed.

Now that the album is out (or about to be out), what’s next for you? Any touring plans, new projects, or things you’re especially excited about?

The album comes out March 20, then on March 24th I leave for The Netherlands to tour for two weeks in that region. In July I have a 2-week tour in the Northeastern US. The goal is to play a ton of shows this year.

Just for fun, what are some albums or artists you’ve been listening to lately? It can be anything, not necessarily in the same style as your own music.

According to my phone…

Justin Wells – ‘Cynthiana’
The Droptines – S/T
Turnpike Troubadours – ‘The Price of Admission’
Colter Wall – ‘Memories and Empties’
Jeremy Pinnell – ‘Decades’
Willie Nelson – ‘Red Headed Stranger’
Tim Barry – ‘Rivanna Junction’
Genesis – ‘Invisible Touch’
Jackson Browne – ‘Late for the Sky’
John Carpenter – ‘Lost Themes’

Thanks again for your time, last words are yours. Anything you’d like to share with the readers?

Thanks for having me, these questions were fun!

If anyone is in the Benelux region, come catch a show:

26 March / Gouwekerk – Gouda, NL
27 March / Lutherse Kerk – Groningen, NL
28 March / Cafe De Amer – Amen, NL
31 March / Paviljoen Mem – Buitenpost, NL
01 April / Tivolivredenburg – Utrecht, NL
02 April / Zeepziederij – Bree, BE
04 April / Vulcaan – Vlaardingen, NL

Klemen Breznikar

W.D. Miller Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube
Think Like A Key Music Official Website / Facebook / X / Instagram / Bandcamp / YouTube