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Rocker rides rails from New Orleans to D.C.

Take a train trip with roots-rocker Scott Miller.

By ADELE UPHAUS

Date published: 2/5/2004

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

When Scott Miller was 3 years old, he took his first train trip. All he remembers about it is throwing up.

"My mom's grandfather worked for the railroads, and my mom decided that we needed to know what it's like to travel on a train," recalled Miller during a phone interview. "All I remember is [getting sick] on the dining car."

He will play in Washington's Union Station and at Iota in Arlington today.

The unpleasant experience didn't put a damper on the romance of trains for Miller.

"Who doesn't love a train?" he exclaimed.

It was either that love of trains or a self-professed need to make everything difficult that caused the 35-year-old roots rock musician to decide to tour by rail.

This winter's Mule Train tour, supporting Miller's second solo album, "Upside Downside," will follow the path of the Amtrak Crescent line, which begins in New Orleans and ends in New York City.

Miller and his band, the Commonwealth, are riding the train from the beginning of the route to the end, and will perform in each city where the train stops. That is why some of the shows take place in train stations.

While Miller said that the logistics of carrying out such a scheme have been "a living hell," the tour is fully supported by Amtrak. And the musician, who is usually on the road, is glad not to be dealing with interstate traffic.

"I've got a million books on trains and a deck of cards," Miller said of how he and the band will spend traveling time. "And of course, we'll be traveling through everybody's back yards, so we'll get a good look."

Miller's a folkie who collects old typewriters and loves near-obsolete modes of travel, but he is also the guy who'd like to live in Wisconsin because there are so many bars.

He's the introspective singer-songwriter who majored in Russian language and literature and the outgoing frontman with a reputation for high-energy live shows.

Miller's "Amtrak Crescent" on the new album is an old-fashioned ode to the wandering life and to a dying mode of travel. He wrote the song while he was holed up waiting for a tequila-related broken nose to heal.

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Date published: 2/5/2004