WHITNEY MILLER

Wednesday November 2, 2022

@ Electric Jane in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Navigating a very crowded, modern country music scene for any new artist doesn’t come with a surefire blueprint to success, which makes it a grinding challenge to find your own unique path and catch enough media and industry attention to create a substantial amount of buzz to propel you forward.

However, Whitney Miller has accomplished just that!

Miller is immediately recognizable for her many different facets in the public eye and entertainment worlds, including being crowned Miss Texas and Miss United States, her turn as an MMA fighter and kickboxing commentator, and her ultra-popular podcast that tackles the tough subjects of love, sex, and relationship in modern society.

However, country music has always been a fabrication of her life ever since she was a young girl growing up in South Texas, spinning vinyl with the names of the greats printed on them: Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline.

Now calling Nashville home, her debut music video for “Diamond Country” recently premiered on CMT, and as she’s finishing up work on her debut album, she further hyped its buzz as she shared pieces of it with the music industry, her closest friends, and diehard fans during a full-band showcase inside Nashville’s mid-town hotspot, Electric Jane. 

With an ambience of class set in motion by the venue itself as it surrounds you with plush couches, a marble topped bar, mirrored wall decor, and high-end food and cocktails, it nostalgically transports you back in time to when private entertainment clubs were the hottest rage among celebrities; the perfect setting for Whitney Miller to emerge within.

As the drumbeat pounded over a darkened, smokey atmospheric stage, Miller’s silhouette was showered with a blue hue from the ambient stage lighting, eliciting excited cheers from the crowd as the bright white lights then popped and the band hit into the catchy melody of “Diamond Country” to open her set.

Whitney bounced, center stage, in line with the melody as she popped her hips while immediately displaying her powerhouse vocals and incredibly addictive stage presence, commanding the crowd by patrolling the left and right sides of the stage front, engaging them as they rose their arms in unison with the chorus and cheered her on as they bopped and sang along with her.

Miller stayed in the ultra-catchy realm that she initially set with “Diamond Country,” but moved more into the mid-tempo vibe to peel back another layer into who she is as an artist and songwriter with “Go Ahead and Make it,” a song that’s perfectly suited for today’s mainstream country radio that saw her digging deeper into her vocal register through the verses, before lifting her voice to punch home the chorus.

“I see some new faces in here tonight…some old faces, too; and some of my most favorite people in the world,” began Miller as she gratefully continued. “Thank you all for being here with me tonight and spending your time with me.”

“This next song we’re gonna play is a peak into how I feel about someone that I used to date,” she said with a slyness tone in her voice and a smirk on her face as she blasted into “15 Minutes of Fame,” driving the song with a clap along rhythm as she intriguingly hushed her vocal through the verse to a knowing innocence, before reemerging with her signature power to pop the chorus as she swayed side to side, stomping a boot in time with beat as she carried a swagger into the ultra-sassy hook.  

“I have new music coming out next year and it’s really all a peek into my heart,” Miller excitedly shared. “While “Diamond Country” is this fun song; my coming into country music song that’s all about being you and having fun being who you’re meant to be. This next one is a break-up song that is very real to me,” she shared as the opening notes of “Ain’t the Wine” slowed down the pace for the first time of the night, perfectly capturing the emotional bend of the lyrics as Miller mixed her voice with just the right amounts of disappointed frustration in herself for still being hung up on her ex, with a crying desperation as she reached out to him to see if he’s still just as hung up as she is on what they once had.

The moodiness of “Cowboy Like That” continued to put a spotlight on Miller’s vocals as she expertly softened them when the lyrics called for it, while also bringing up her voice at perfect moments to highlight the list of qualities she’s looking for in a better half. However, the song also masterfully showed her extremely good know-how as she allowed the melody to sit perfectly in its groove and carry the backbeat of the song without ever overshadowing the overall vibe of the instrumentation with her power vocal.

“I grew up with my dad in South Texas and we’re very proud of our last name, so I had to write a song about it called “Miller Time,” Whitney told. “And you decide if it’s about beer or if it’s about me,” she teased as she turned up a rock kissed country edge to close her set, stamping around stage with an unbridled confidence as the crowd hooted and hollered when the final notes were played, meeting Miller with a standing ovation.

A screening of her “Diamond Country” music video wrapped the evening, putting a final exclamation point on an incredibly done showcase!

FULL SET LIST

1) Diamond Country

2) Go Ahead and Make It

3) 15 Minutes of Fame

4) Ain’t the Wine

5) Cowboy Like That

6) Miller Time

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