Colin Miller

Colin Miller at Brudenell Social Club

When you lose someone you love, you don't just lose them once; you lose them in every moment you're reminded they aren't with you: in the drive-thru line, at the bar, or in the home you shared. You bury their body, sure, but living with the grief becomes its own perpetual "laying to rest" ritual. In his second full-length album, Losin', Colin Miller - the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Asheville, North Carolina - looks deep into the shuttered places heartbreak stirs inside us all.

Losin'is the follow-up to Miller's much-praised release Haw Creek, where listeners were ushered into his home and place of inspiration: the community of Haw Creek located in East Asheville, North Carolina. His house and studio was owned by Gary King, who Miller describes as a father figure to him during his high school, college, and early adult life. He rented Gary's house for thirteen years and took after the property, mowing the untended tobacco fields and creating music while Gary grew old next door and the abandoned cars he collected for years sunk into the woods behind his house.

In his early life, Gary was a truck driver, the owner of King Automotive, and a member of Street-Tiques Car Club. As his health began to decline, Miller adopted a caretaker role which meant going to the main house where Gary lived to give him haircuts, watch NASCAR races, bring groceries, and supervise him as he insisted on smoking cigarettes close to his oxygen tank. On July 8th of 2022, Gary passed away and his obituary mentions Miller in a long list of family and special friends. Gary was family - a support net, a lighthouse, and always just a call away as Colin navigated early adulthood relationships and fears.

Miller stayed in the house for two years after Gary passed away, still mowing the yard on the hand-me-down mower, grilling with friends on the front porch, and writing these songs.