Mark Miller

By Lydia Dixon Harden

The 30th Annual TNN Music City News Country Awards marks the first time Mark Miller has ever had the responsibility of hosting such an event. But after fronting Sawyer Brown for over 10 years now, he thinks he has developed the ability to think on his feet.

While on stage, Miller can be a dancing dervish and quite the showman. It comes as a direct contrast to his earlier days when he admits the thought of having to do an oral book report in high school made him sick to his stomach.

"I'm not saying I won't throw up that night," he jokes. "It is a little scary, but on the other hand, it is kind of exciting. I have never done anything like this."

While doing book reports fell low on Miller's list, his fellow high school students thought highly of him and voted him "wittiest" and "friendliest." Both traits come in handy when pursuing an entertainment career. One thing Miller wasn't was the class clown.

"I had to make real good grades. My mom wouldn't have allowed me to be the class clown," he remembers.

Some of Miller's ability to roll with the flow is evident on the latest batch of commercials he did for the 1-800-COLLECT phone service. In addition to sponsoring Sawyer Brown's tour, 1-800-collect had Mark Miller ad-libbing for the camera during the spots.

"None of it was scripted," he tells. "The director would say, 'We want you walking down this railroad track. While you are walking, we want you to do your thing.' They wanted me to say '1-800-COLLECT' somewhere because it is their advertisement."

The day of the interview, Miller is wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. The shorts show where his leg has been shaved for his fifth knee operation. "It's doing great," he tells. The sweatshirt is emblazoned with a logo promoting "Dirt Road Farms." He and his brother, Frank, own a farm south of Nashville where they raise polled Hereford cattle. Miller relates that Randy Owen of Alabama got him into the cattle business, and the two even own some bulls together.

"We go to the shows and to the sales. I go to Randy's sale every year, and we are having our first production sale this year," he says. "We (he and his brother) grew up on a farm. That is what we want to do when this is all over."

Miller grew up on his grandfather's farm in Ohio. "We raised everything -- crops and cattle and pigs and chickens. It was a poor man's farm and you had to raise a little bit of everything just to see what was going to hit that year. My grandfather had to eventually sell it because he couldn't make a living at it."

While there are many fond memories associated with this rural rearing, one thing Miller will never miss is picking corn or beans. In fact, "There is not a corn stalk or bean plant on my farm. That's how much I hated it." He remembers when it was time to harvest the corn; he and his brother had to wear flannel shirts secured by rubber bands at the collar and cuffs while toiling in the hot sun. Their grandfather would cut the corn with a machete and the boys would gather the cobs in their arms. They would then have to walk back and forth through the stalks, which can inflict severe cuts.

The cuts Miller and his fellow members of Sawyer Brown prefer now are those on an album. The group has been holed up with producer Mac McAnally in Muscle Shoals, Ala., working on a new project. The studio is McAnally's former home, an ante-bellum house on a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. Being removed from Music Row while recording has proved to be helpful as they can remain focused. There aren't people traipsing through, beepers going off, or someone waiting for a meeting.

"This year we want to spend more time in the studio. We are doing less (road) dates," he says of the group that has been known for their road warrior status. "We felt (spending more time in the studio ) showed on "This Thing Called Wanting And Having It All." We want to make sure the music doesn't suffer because we need to go out on a tour. We intentionally backed off some of the touring so we could make, hopefully, what people consider to be good music."

The fans of country music have stood firm with Sawyer Brown. The group has been honored for the past three years as Vocal Band of the Year at the TNN Music City News Country Awards. They are nominated again this year.

"I am just so honored any time we receive an award from fan voting. I am so honored and really humbled by it because I know they can vote for anybody they want to," Miller says. "It is absolutely my favorite awards show."

©Copyright 1996 by Music City News

Thanks to for letting me put up this interview.

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