Scott Miller Courtesy photo

Earle and Miller have been friends for years, and Earle signed Miller's '90s roots-pop band, the V-Roys, as the first act on his E-Squared record label. The V-Roys made a habit of consuming alcohol on a fairly regular basis, and their flair for songcraft and onstage chaos led some scribes to brand them a Southern Replacements.

Like the Mats, the V-Roys never connected with the mass audience they deserved, and three years ago Miller decided to go solo. A student of Russian literature and a self-styled historian fascinated with pre-Civil War America, Miller isn't your average alt.country troubadour, and it shows in his work, with its emphasis on storytelling and explorations of characters who live below the Mason-Dixon line.

Miller tends to mix solo acoustic and band gigs into his schedule, but when he takes the stage at Casbeers on Friday, September 5, the Commonwealth will lend their countrified Booker T and the MGs sound to his material. •