blueburst - bio

Blueburst isn't your typical band of starry-eyed twenty-somethings making their debut. Instead, it's the brainchild of an unlikely "new" artist: guitarist/vocalist Craig Douglas Miller. At the age of 50, Miller is breathing life back into a music career, he’d once written off, defying the notion that it's ever too late to pursue one's passion.

 After major label interest for his 1990s band, The Reach, never quite panned out, Miller entered a 20-plus-year period of musical hibernation, the result of untreated clinical depression, writer’s block, and "perhaps a few too many gin and tonics" as Miller succinctly puts it.

 However, a fortuitous meeting with legendary guitarist Marty Willson-Piper (The Church, Noctorum, All About Eve) changed everything. Miller finally found the missing piece of his musical puzzle: a trusted mentor and collaborator. Inspired by Willson-Piper's guidance and with time on his hands during the pandemic, Miller resurrected his home studio, delving deep into his creative well to complete an album's worth of original songs. Thus, the birth of Blueburst— named after the finish on his favorite guitar.

 Together, Miller and Willson-Piper deliver a lush, guitar-based sound, firmly rooted in the legacy of '80s alternative and post-punk, but with a modern and timeless feel that transcends eras. In a musical landscape often dominated by overproduced slickness, Blueburst fearlessly embraces its retro influences, proudly wearing its oldwave inspirations on its sleeve. "Most of my friends, and a lot of younger people as well, are still listening to the albums we grew up with because there's a rawness and honesty in that music,” says Miller.  “That authenticity is what we've aspired to capture here.”

Lyrically, Miller dives headfirst into the zeitgeist, reflecting the angst and turmoil of recent years through the prism of his rejuvenated spirit. At the age of 50, he has defied the constraints of a mid-life crisis, embracing a newfound zest for life and music. Themes of seizing life’s fleeting moments and striving to leave a mark on the world permeate the fabric of Blueburst's sonic tapestry, resonating with listeners seeking a cathartic release.

 Miller’s collaborators boast impressive professional pedigrees: including drummers Michael Jerome (Better Than Ezra, Richard Thompson) and Brian Platt (The Cads), bassist Ryan Kelly (Dayroom), and vocalist Riley Schatz. Add in Willson-Piper sprinkling his inimitable brand of creative guitar work over top of Miller’s songs, and the result is dynamic intelligent music that alternately crunches, chimes, jangles and pounds.

 Blueburst unveiled their debut single, "Vanish," in March, with new singles arriving monthly throughout the summer. The highly anticipated full album, entitled Significance, is set to grace our ears in September 2023, solidifying Blueburst's place in the musical landscape.

Bio Versions

CRAIG DOUGLAS MILLER

MARTY WILLSON-PIPER