Singer/songwriter John R. Miller has announced his fifth studio album, The Great Unknowing, out on physical formats on June 5th, 2026, and digitally July 17th via Rounder Records. On the album, Miller’s sound expands beyond his Americana roots into a “more exploratory sonic landscape”, while maintaining the storytelling that has defined his work.
After a year of demoing at home and testing the songs on the road, Miller knew he needed a change of scenery for inspiration and found that at Leon Russell’s legendary Church Studio in Tulsa, OK.
He says:
Immediately the gears started turning. Tulsa is one of the great legacy-bearing cities of American music—J.J. Cale is one of my all-time favorites, and Shelter Records was based there. So much of what I love in music history happened right around that block.
The track “Tollbooth”, along with a live performance video, is out now. It was inspired by the changes in scenery while touring on the road.
Miller explains:
You tend to explore that territory in songs when you’re doing it a lot, but some of them, like ‘Tollbooth,’ seem to be more about witnessing American decay. It can be hard to notice changes as they happen when you’re living in a place, but when you revisit the same places over time, you get a sense for how the landscape is shifting, both literally and figuratively.
Co-produced alongside longtime collaborator Adam Meisterhans, Miller assembled a band of experienced Tulsa players, including Paddy Ryan, Aaron Boehler, Muskrat Jones, and Grammy-nominated John Fullbright, whose piano and keyboard work threads throughout the album.
Recorded at The Church Studio, the sessions blended live performances with layered multi-tracking. At the center of it all was the studio’s fully restored 1977 Neve 8068 console, which was once owned by Daniel Lanois and used on landmark recordings, including Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind.
The Great Unknowing will arrive on physical formats first, with an emphasis on vinyl, CDs, and lossless audio.
Discussing the decision to release music on physical formats first, Miller says:
I’m hoping to encourage folks to visit their local record and CD shops, or to order the album directly. Maybe I’m a romantic, but I want to see the places I love, brick-and-mortar shops you can walk into with music and books and art made by humans, continue to exist into the future, and I want the culture around these places to thrive with diverse thought and taste.
Miller is currently on tour with full dates listed below.
Tour Dates
Sat, Apr 25 – Seymour, IN – Crossroads Acoustic Fest
Tue, May 5 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club*
Wed, May 6 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room Greenville*
Fri, May 8 – Southern Pines, NC – Sunrise Theater*
Sat, May 9 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall*
Sat, Jun 6 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Music Festival
Sun, Jun 7 – Charleston, WV – Mountain Stage
Thu, Jun 11 – Pineville, KY – Laurel Cove Music Festival
Sat, Jul 18 – Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant Street^
Fri, Aug 21 – Stockholm, Sweden – Stockholm Roots Festival
Sat, Aug 22 – Falkenberg, Sweden – Rootsy Summer Fest 26
Aug 26-29 – Tønder, Southern Denmark – Tønder Festival
Fri, Oct 2 – Thomas, WV – Purple Fiddle~
Sat, Oct 3 – Thomas, WV – Purple Fiddle#
Supported by *Kristina Murray ^William Matheny #Darrin Hacquard ~Olivia Ellen Lloyd
