Bio
Elijah Boone is an Appalachian artist pioneering his own brand of mountain music. He is completing his music degree and headed into the studio to record his first solo project. He says, “My career is a journey. To get where I want to be takes time and work. No shortcuts. I want to take all my experiences and influences and make music that reflects who I am and touches people.”
Elijah Boone (Elijah Boone Miller) was born in Nashville, TN to a musician father from Appalachia and a public-school teaching mother from Texas. His musical journey began at the age of six as a fiddler. A year later he was also strumming rhythm guitar and teaching himself to yodel. He was soon imitating his favorite old time country singers like Jimmy Rogers, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Hank Williams.
Growing up in middle Tennessee, north Alabama and eastern Kentucky, Elijah was influenced and encouraged by older players both in traditional mountain and country music. He started performing with his family’s band “Chigger Ridge” when he was eight years old. He gained valuable experiences performing on stage, playing in jam sessions, and street performing for tips on Second Avenue in Nashville. On one Second Avenue outing a car stopped and a voice yelled, “You kids come over here and play a tune for Doc (Watson)!” On another occasion Roni Stoneman, of Hee Haw fame, danced and joined in on banjo. (Check out videos of Elijah performing as a youngster by going to ChiggerRidgeMusic on YouTube)
Elijah’s musical path took a major turn when he bought a red Fender Telecaster guitar in middle-school. Although he had played fiddle for years, he put it aside for the electric guitar. In the beginning he focused on the chicken picken’ style of country guitar (a la’ Don Rich and Brent Mason) and the blues of BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughn. As a high-school sophomore he joined the school’s jazz band and began a steady growth of musical diversity that included rock, funk and fusion. He auditioned and won guitar duties for his area’s all district jazz band, and the prestigious Kentucky All-State Jazz Ensemble as a junior and senior. These experiences led him to earn a scholarship and major in jazz studies at Morehead State University.
While in high school Elijah teamed up with friends and formed the group, “The Goodfellas.” They performed a steady schedule of gigs playing jazz, blues, funk and fusion. He has stayed busy honing his country skills as well as gaining experience as a side-man for other artist in multiple genres.
Elijah has since formed a powerhouse blues trio with Christian Mullins and Austin Clark to bring his own original songs to life. These songs feature pieces of all his influences with unique arrangements and complexities not native to traditional blues music. Playing with this trio has opened many doors including playing with famous blues icon, Johnny Rawls. As Elijah continues his writing career, he looks forward to merging his traditional background into the blues/soul music he writes and plays today.