Mike Miller

Mike Miller was born to a farming family and learned early on the value of a hard day's work. In his case--very little. He was a frail boy and a dreamer, and he caused his tired family no end of distress. One day, following a nap in the hayloft, Mike discovered his great uncle Alfred's six-string, hidden on top the hayloft crossbar under which Mike had taken his nap. He took it, told no one, and secretly wrote six songs, by candlelight, in the hayloft.

They were cosmic.

When he finished he fell asleep so excited and exhausted that he forgot to extinguish his candle. The loft went up and the barn burned--and Mike barely escaped with his life and guitar.

His family was outside--Father first spotted the wispy figure through the flames, a swirling shadow of a man and six-string.

"My God," he thought, "Alfred.!" Mike emerged, choking and crying for forgiveness.

"I shall spare no mercy for the accursed of Hell," Father howled, "And I mourn this, the day my eldest son was taken by the devil."

Mike Miller was burning down the road by the time Father's shotgun blast frightened Mother's first tear to the cold dry earth.

And he's running still, playing a damned uncle's six-string and singing out the devil's own voices--running and singing to save his mortal soul.