Tommy Miles: Press

A two-page article with pictures on the making of "Take Me Back Biloxi", including the Muscle Shoals connection. The article discusses the song writers and musicians from the area that contributed to the cd, including songwriter Bill Blackburn and local hero Spooner Oldham.

Tommy Miles has had one of those coulda/woulda/shoulda careers. He toured the regional South with his band The Rock Pyle, in the late sixties and relocated to California after Camille devastated the Gulf Coast in 1969, then broke his neck in a car accident and dropped out of the music scene. Miles returned with the Merlin Sights Band, which ended badly, causing him and drummer Steve Tucker to set up a recording studio to work a different music angle. Eventually, Miles began collaborating with Delaney Bramlett and the legendary Spooner Oldham, which has ultimately led to the formation of Harmony-n-Gritz and this recording.

Miles' career has been a timeline of country music's evolution, and he works within that broad range here, from the T Bone Burnett-does-Buddy Holly twang pop of "Let's Fall In Love" to the Steve Earle-tinged "Living Out My Dream" and "Throwing True Love Away" to Charley Daniels/Little Feat shuffle of the title track. Although Oldham's handiwork is evident on Biloxi as keyboardist, co-producer and co-writer of a number of tracks, this is a showcase for Miles' talents, which he displays fairly well.

Biloxi's better than average songs are notched back slightly by the albums raw roadhouse sonics and Miles' world worn voice, which occasionally misses the mark, and the album cover art has the mistaken feel of a '60s gospel record, but it's a solid beginning for an artist with a 40-year head start.