Conservation agent follows music dream, releases album

PIEDMONT — On any given day (or even night) in Wayne County, you might find Drew Miller patrolling the roads and public lands as one of the county’s two conservation agents.

You also just might find him belting out his own music at a venue somewhere in the region.

You could say music has always been in his blood.

“I grew up playing music, and I started playing guitar when I was 7 years old,” Miller, a native of Memphis, Missouri, said. “When I got in high school, I played in a Christian rock band.

“The country music and singing I actually didn’t start until I was a freshman in college.”

During his college years, Miller played in a band called “Nine Miles to Nowhere.”

“We played for about two and a half years up there, touring around the midwest,” Miller recalled.

As time passed, everyone in the band went their own way, but Miller couldn’t let go of the music, and in 2017, he recorded an album, which was just released a few weeks ago on iTunes.

The “Back to Me” album features Miller’s own creations, from the rock-oriented “‘Ol Hickory” to the traditional country “Say Goodbye” and more.

“Those songs are actually songs that I had written for the band back in college,” Miller said. “Since I owned all the rights for those songs, I just rebranded them under my own name now that the band isn’t around any more.”

His old bandmates did help on the album, however.

“Honestly, all those songs have different people on them because our band switched around so much,” Miller said.

“‘Ol Hickory is my favorite,” Miller said of the album. “I like the rock sound to it. It’s a summertime song, that’s for sure.”

Miller said he’s had several influences over the years, which have guided his musical direction.

“I’ve got a mix of them because I have some rock background to me,” he said. “As for the country side of things, I’d say Brooks & Dunn and Brantley Gilbert. For the rock side of it, I’d say Shinedown and Seether.”

Miller said he continually tries to “blend all that kind of stuff I grew up listening to into what comes out of me.”

Since the album’s release, Miller said, he’s heard good feedback, but many people in the region simply don’t know about his music and only know him as the “game warden.”

“A lot of people down here don’t know I do that stuff,” he said.

Conversely, he said, a “lot of people up north know those songs. They’ve been listening to them for a couple of years.”

Now, Miller hopes to get his music noticed in Southeast Missouri.

“As I get integrated down here, I want to start playing music at different places. I’ve been to The Camp a couple times, and I’d like to play at Cape Girardeau at the college and other places. I just need to work to get my name out there,” Miller said.

He also has more music in the works, but “a lot of it is just coming up with the funds to do it. I need to start playing some shows and release more music. I’ve got quite a few more songs I’ve written that I need to get recorded.”

Miller may have even bigger goals than playing local venues, noting Nashville is now closer than his hometown.

“As of right now, I’m a full-time conservation agent, but I can’t say I’d pass up an opportunity to play music for a living,” he said with a laugh.