Artist Scott Miller

Ex-V-Roys leader Scott Miller has never quite decided whether to be traditional or iconoclastic—2003’s Upside Downside divided itself neatly into acoustic and electric halves, while 2006’s Citation dug its heels even further into scruffy Americana. He splits the difference on 2009's self-released For Crying Out Loud, which was funded the hard way: by selling handmade copies of demos to fans, a fiercely DIY/borderline-panhandling strategy that reflects the album’s Great Depression-influenced gallows humor. But even as Miller laments that “the dollar’s weak but it's stronger than me” on the hooky title track, he’s doing it with some of his richest material to date, balancing gut-bucket grit and mordant wit with Miller’s usual gift for colorful gab. 

Updated 03/17/2010