Steve Taylor

Miner is a Los Angeles/Silverlake folk-rock group formed in 2012 from the creative nervous breakdown of songwriter Justin Miner, which led him to take an extended break from the music world. He subsequently left Los Angeles to travel the jungles of Central and South America and the redwoods of California’s central coast. He returned home rejuvenated, built a small studio in his bedroom with one microphone, and recruited family members (wife Kate Miner, brother Jeremy Miner) to sing and stomp, and Miner was born. When the recording was finished, Justin uploaded first single “Hey Love” to Soundcloud, and within a few days it unexpectedly reached #2 on the Hype Machine single charts. Justin quickly recruited some friends and put together the current live lineup, which includes Justin Miner (vox, guitar), his wife Kate Miner (vox, mandolin, ukulele, harmonica), his brother Jeremy Miner (banjo, lead guitar), his cousin Amanda Koosed (keys), and longtime friends Justin Krook (bass) and Dave Schechtman (drums & percussion).

Miner finds a unique groove within the recent indie-folk revival while still further blurring the genre lines between singer-songwriter, folk, and rock. They self-released a six-song EP called “Hey Love” in September, currently only available at shows. They are now writing new material for their debut album and continuing to perform live.

Tall Tales and the Silver Lining
After the release of their 2011 album, Nice to Meet You Again, Southern California’s, Tall Tales and the Silver Lining decided to try a different approach to producing/distributing their songs for the follow-up project. Front man/songwriter, Trevor Beld-Jimenez, thought it would be an interesting notion to record sets of tracks throughout the year and release one single per season, beginning with summer. Each session was recorded at a different studio, in both Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and various artists were brought on to do the design for each cover, including Kyle Field, Jason Bays, and Seth Pettersen. The Seasonal Singles were initially released online as they were individually completed. The vinyl pressing of Tall Tales and the Silver Lining marks the birth of these twelve songs in a physical media format, and is the band’s first release with Rocketship Records.
While performing extensively throughout California, the band has played shows with a myriad of notable acts, such as: Dawes, Kurt Vile, Deer Tick, Little Wings, Kimya Dawson, Blitzen Trapper, Neal Casal, Beachwood Sparks, Langhorne Slim, Mother Hips, Tom Brosseau, and many more. The group is influenced and motivated by a wide array of artists ranging from the likes of The Rolling Stones to Burt Bacharach, Neil Young and Crazy Horse to David Gates, and Minor Threat to Tom Petty. Beld-Jimenez states that the songs on this album find their messages stemming from “friendships, longing, love, an arch-nemesis, partying, depression, joy, babies, and family.” Tall Tales and the Silver Lining recently celebrated their fifth anniversary as a band, in one form or another, and this compilation is their sixth release.