Like so many great songs, John R. Miller’s “Don’t Bet On Me” came out of the chute at the last minute. “It gave us a kind of a fuzzy, death-march-through-the-ether groove to play around with,” says Miller of the leadoff track to his upcoming LP, The Great Unknowing (Rounder). “I kept trying to add more chords or another part to it while making demos, and it never really worked until we just emptied it out, let the guitars come first and dropped attempts at a solid arrangement. I love a lot of songs that hang on one chord way longer than they probably should.”
Set for release July 17, Miller’s second album since 2021’s Depreciated feels a like an expansive sigh of relief after 2023’s Heat Comes Down failed to properly build on the momentum of his masterful Rounder debut. The Great Unknowing is the promising sound of the West Virginia-reared Miller putting on his work boots and getting back to the business of being the best populist songwriter to emerge from alt-country Appalachia this side of Tyler Childers. The album was tracked in Oklahoma at the Church Studio, Leon Russell’s recently resurrected hub for the “Tulsa Sound,” where Miller approached drummer Paddy Ryan to assemble a core lineup that included Aaron Boehler on bass, Muskrat Jones on pedal steel and Grammy nominee John Fullbright on keyboards. Miller also leaned heavily on longtime friend and collaborator Adam Meisterhans, who co-produced and played guitar.
“Adam’s super-saturated tremolo-and-echoed guitar plays against Fullbright and Muskrat’s organ and pedal steel pads to create a very active, spooky kind of effect that I love, especially against the hollowed-out groove Paddy and Aaron have going,” says Miller of the band’s handiwork on “Don’t Bet On Me.” “Once we had the live tracking done, we asked Fullbright do some arpeggios on a Moog Grandmother, which you can hear sunk into the mix at times.”
In assembling the video, West Virginia-based illustrator Heath Holley wrote and animated the first 90 seconds without really knowing what came next. “I knew John was going to get in a car and go to Vegas or something, but I wasn’t sure what was going to drive that along narratively,” says Holley. “I eventually realized I had introduced these three creatures: the snake, the crow and the scorpion. Those scenes where the critters return as fully realized characters ended up being some of my favorites to animate.”
“The constant motion—becoming more unhinged as the video goes on—is hilarious and menacing,” says Miller. “It seems to me there are references to Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and the Bible in equal measure, which is an agreeable mix, if you ask me. Plus, a rocket car … How can you not love a rocket car?”
We’re proud to premiere John R. Miller’s “Don’t Bet On Me” video.
—Hobart Rowland
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