Local attorney John Miller may be better known as a musician than a lawyer, but no matter, he is at the top of his field in both accounts. From his early childhood, music helped shape his life when he began piano lessons at age five. Miller was born in Virginia, but came from everywhere and nowhere, the son of a Presbyterian minister who was assigned to different churches and that led to growing up in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The first of four children, Miller had spent time learning the piano as a child in Florida, but before moving back to Alabama he began lessons on the guitar, and to hear Miller tell it, “My guitar teacher was a member of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, and the band went on a European tour after my first lesson so that was pretty much it for me and guitar.”
Moving back to Alabama led Miller to spending his high school years in Montgomery and ultimately he joined a band there as the drummer. From 1973 into his college years John gained a sense of feel for playing rock and roll, although in his heart he knew there was something about the Blues that was calling his name. In addition to playing drums he was also a singer and through the course time he was in some bands just as the singer, but eventually he decided that he wanted to come out from behind the drum kit and lead the bands that he was a member of. “When I decided I wanted to come out from behind the drums,” Miller said, “there weren’t really that many bass players, and that’s the other half of the rhythm section so I’ll just have to learn the fretboard, so I bought a bass and I bought a book and basically taught myself to play bass.”
By this time Miller had graduated Law School at Washington and Lee in Virginia and was offered a position in Jacksonville and had moved here permanantly. One of the people Miller had met early on was Rick Doeschler and the two of them had decided to put a band together. Along with Doeschler, Mac Evans and some other friends, Miller created the BayStreet Blues Club and they played their first gig in 1987. Doeschler already had deep roots in the Jacksonville music scene having been a member of Ronnie Van Zant’s band, Us. All these factors led to John fronting a very popular Jacksonville band.
As their popularity grew, Atlantic Beach restaurant RagTime, booked the BayStreet Blues Club and for the next 35 years John Miller and BayStreet began a climb in popularity unmatched by almost any other Jacksonville band. Eventually BayStreet was a regular at RagTime, playing at least six times a year, but more noticeably, they played the Florida/Georgia weekend every year for over twenty-five years. Of course Rock and Roll was the main theme for RagTime, but they always threw in some Blues at every gig they played.
With Springing The Blues being held in Jacksonville Beach annually during the first weekend in April, Miller was booked to play the festival and was finally able to play a whole set of Blues, which was something he loved doing. But it wasn’t just covers as so often had been the case with other gigs. John finally was able to play more original Blues songs than ever before and over the course of Springing The Blues’ history, Miller has performed at the iconic festival fifteen times. Possibly more than any other local band in the line up. Although the band has been called BayStreet Blues Club, they have been through a name change or two in their existence, from Blues Club to BayStreet Band to simply BayStreet, John Miller has performed on the local Jacksonville scene regularly since 1987 and has built a solid reputation as one of our area’s top musicians.
With such longevity in the music scene it can be easy to overlook the other part of Miller’s life, which is as an attorney. As previously stated, John Miller received his law degree from Washington and Lee University and immediately moved to Jacksonville where he had been offered a position at a local law firm. It didn’t take John long to open his own firm though, and as his client list grew John felt that to be able to serve his clients best he needed to focus on representing the families of his established clients as well. He went from litigation to estate planning to land title work, and as Miller informed us, one of my favorite parts of my job is representing entrepreneurial business owners,” thus creating an all encompassing list of services that would be sure to assist following generations of his growing client list. That turned out to be one of the best moves he ever made. His practice, Rock Solid Law and Title is flourishing and he has built a rock solid reputation as the type of attorney who the typical lawyer jokes simply do not apply to.
In addition to running an upstanding firm, Miller is well known for giving back to his community. From his involvement with the Beaches Hospitality Network, to his position as Special Magistrate of Neptune Beach, to supporting local charities and causes, to volunteering in the Beaches Museum’s Chapel Concert series, Miller has become somewhat of a beach icon himself. When friend and local attorney Tim Ellis recognized that the Chapel at the Beaches Museum would be a perfect venue for a concert series ten years ago, one of the first people Ellis called for support was Miller. “I saw the chapel as a possible concert venue so I called John and together we came up with a plan to present to the board of the museum,” Ellis said. In addition to Miller, Ellis sought the support of festival promoter Sam Veal and promoter/stage manager, Terry Dixon. With Miller’s music knowledge and Veal’s promotion experience, the four of them created what became one of the best organized and longest running concert series in the Jacksonville music scene. Ellis went on to say, “It’s been a really great run in which we have had Grammy nominated artists as well as local, regional and national talent accept our invitations to play. With the chapel being such a small venue it would seem hard to lure the bigger names, but one of the special things about the chapel is that once people play there they just fall in love with the place, and they tell others, and that leads to artists wanting to play there.”
Beaches Museum Executive Director, Chris Hoffman said of Miller, “John has been a key driver in the success of the Chapel Concert Series since day one. His depth of appreciation for diverse genres, his contacts within the industry, and his appreciation for the history and culture of the Beaches make him a perfect fit for his role in making our concerts happen.” Now, after years of building the series into something so special, John Miller finds himself appearing at the chapel coming up on May 8, 2025. Or is it MillaJohn appearing May 8? As it turns out, John’s newest entry into the music scene is not another variation of BayStreet, but his very own Blues act called MillaJohn’s BlueSoul. He opened the final day of Springing The Blues with BlueSoul and now will play the Chapel Concert series as the headliner. Hoffman added, “While he’s sat in with many of our performers (he goes back decades with some!) this will be his first time headlining the Chapel. I can’t think of a better way to wrap our season.”
Miller was quick to point out, “I love what BayStreet is all about, and to be honest, that is a party, rock band. And that’s great, there’s nothing wrong with giving people a good time. Giving them a moment of taking away their cares and worries, and having fun.” But John added, “There is just a very dear point in my heart for Blues. So about five years ago when I had an opportunity to open up for JJ Grey, it was BayStreet that was on the bill and I asked the promoter to let us play as MillaJohn’s BlueSoul.” When asked how that name came to be John explained that, “Well, it came from a Mother Goose nursery rhyme that many years ago a friend would say ‘Diddle diddle dumplin Milla John, went to bed with his stockings on, one shoe off and one shoe on, diddle diddle dumplin Milla John. And that had stuck with me so I thought what a great name!”
Names aside, what’s important is the music and John was adamant that the band stay true to the roots of the music he wanted to play. “The band is about Blues and Soul,” he said. “It’s about American roots music and I feel like having lived in Memphis and coming from the South that it’s pretty much like my birthright to play this music, and I just want to stay true to that.” One thing music fans can count on is to hear a strong resemblance to the early electric Blues, as well as a lot of 1960s style soul music. Two melodic styles that really compliment each other, that really go well together.
While you may hear a classic John Lee Hooker tune or some other type of classic covers, for the most part Miller is excited to get to play a majority of his original music at the upcoming chapel concert. One of the aspects of this show Miller is also looking forward to is getting to tell the audience the story behind some of these songs. With such a small venue, the intimacy of interacting with the audience so up close and personal makes this a very special occasion for Miller and his band.
With Miller having so much history here, it’s almost easy to forget to mention the chapel’s own history. For starters, the chapel has a rich story at the beaches. The location at the history park is its fourth location, and its fourth “official” move. The chapel was moved twice while at its second home (once to turn it 90 degrees). The chapel started out at Second Avenue and Second Street South when it was built in 1887 in Pablo Beach (Jacksonville Beach now). In 1952, it was moved to 11th Avenue North and Fifth Street in Jacksonville Beach (previously Pablo Beach). In 1960, it was turned to face Patricia Lane. In 1970, the chapel was moved to Florida Blvd in Neptune Beach. Beaches Chapel built up around the small building, and finally the chapel was moved June 17, 2012 to the Beaches Museum.
All in all, we live in a remarkable place, and as with anywhere we are surrounded by remarkable people. When it comes to the list of respected beach icons, none sit much higher on that list than John Miller. Whether throwing the weight of his business behind a deserving charity, representing generations of families with any number of legal services or playing live music at places like The Blue Jay Listening Room, Springing The Blues Festival or in the Chapel Concert Series, John Miller, by any name, takes his role very seriously and shows it in every thing he does. Tim Ellis added, I don’t know if John is a full time lawyer who plays music or a full time musician who practices law, but I am certain that he is an asset to this beach and we are proud that he decided to settle down here.”
For more information on John Miller visit www.rocksolidlaw.com
For more information on the Chapel Concert series visit www.beachesmuseum.com
And whatever you do, make your plans now to get tickets to see MillaJohn’s BlueSoul May 8, 2025 at the Beaches Museum Chapel Concert season Finale!