Jerry Miller - 1995-Present: Return To Tacoma

1995-Present: Return To Tacoma

Since 1995, Jerry Miller has been based in Tacoma, Washington, for the most part living a few blocks from his childhood home. He currently fronts The Jerry Miller Band, with Tom Murphy and Darin Watkins on drums and Kim Workman on bass, among other musicians. In July 2007, the Jerry Miller Band performed in Monterey for the 40th Anniversary of Monterey Pop.

In July 2008, Jerry Miller participated in a benefit to raise funds for medical care for Rick Burton, a bassist with the Jerry Miller Band and a close personal friend, whose days of playing with Jerry went back over forty years. They had been in The Elegants together. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Burton had been in another band fronted by Jerry Miller, DiaBando. He had also contributed to a 2005 benefit when Miller himself was in need of assistance to fund the Jerry A. Miller Foundation for the Advancement of The Arts, with an objective of using local facilities to provide practice and teaching space for local musicians. In the fall of 2007, the 60 year old Burton had been assaulted and gravely injured in what was viewed as a random, gang-oriented attack, where those responsible have not yet been found. The benefit, "Harm None" was also intended to raise awareness about violence in Tacoma.

In January 2009, Miller lost virtually all of his personal possessions and career memorabilia to flood damage. Included in the loss were numerous concert tapes and photographs of Miller with other musical notables, including Jimi Hendrix and Robert Plant. Local Tacoma musicians held two benefit concerts to assist Miller financially.

In the summer of 2009, Miller joined the "California '66" package tour, featuring reformed versions of The Electric Prunes and Love. Miller substituted for Sky Saxon, who had been scheduled to perform with The Seeds, but who died unexpectedly a month before the tour was set to begin. Miller performed with his own band, rather than with a Moby Grape configuration.

In 2010, Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson and Omar Spence (son of Skip Spence) performed at the South by Southwest festival, playing a mix of classic Moby Grape songs and newer songs, principally composed and recorded in 2009.

Despite continuing to write new songs, Miller has not released an album of original material since 1998. In addition, similar to Moby Grape bandmates Bob Mosley and Peter Lewis, his solo work has not yet been subject to broad-based national or global distribution.

Images of the Jerry Miller Band (with Tom Murphy, drums and Rick Burton, bass) are accessible here.