We recently had the chance to connect with Charlsey Miller and have shared our conversation below.
Charlsey, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: When have you felt most loved—and did you believe you deserved it?
Oh man, I feel pretty lucky to feel some pretty powerful love throughout my life, from family, to friendships, to my sweet husband; but I gotta say never have I ever felt a love like I feel when my baby daughter, Gloria, looks at me. Boy oh boy, out of nowhere, she can shoot me a look that makes me feel… like I’m her whole world. A look I have never seen directed at me- it’s devastating, not to mention humbling. I know she has the absolute power to break my heart, and honestly, I’ll let her do it. But I worked real hard to make her and I sure love her the most; so, yeah, I feel like I deserve that love. I actually wrote a lullaby for her and put it on my new EP, The Flower. It’s out August 22nd!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Charlsey Miller, your friendly neighborhood ghost*! I write stories magical and otherwise about deep feelings and put them to good old Americana music. I’ve got lots of songs available to stream wherever you stream- and new stuff coming August 22nd!
*singer-songwriter
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
I’d say my dad. Truly the hardest working man in show business, he was a radio morning show “shock jock” while I was growing up, and since then has always had at least a dozen irons in the fire. He showed me what passion looked like, and that if you chase that passion daily, you can live off of it. He also showed me that no job is worth sacrificing your principals or happiness. I wrote a song about him, too! The title track of The Flower and I sing this about him and his work ethic: “He said C, you don’t get airtime if you ain’t making any noise”.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
If you can believe it, I was a weird* kid. I was very superstitious, and mostly only scared of big concepts, like life and death (and automatic toilets but I promise I grew out of that). As a way to calm my fears, I collected invisible friends. One friend was Casper the Friendly Ghost, himself! I’ve always had a fascination with ghosts, despite never quite believing in them. The first song on the EP is called Boo Hoo, a song about what it might feel like to suddenly find yourself non-corporeal.
*very cool
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I’ve had some powerful (in character) women to look up to in my life, that have given me my sense of worth as well as worldviews. My grandma, for example, was a woman who never held any position of particular power, apart from matriarch. But she wrought a life for herself that she adored, with true friends and a loyal family, and a bird feeder full of cardinals (her favorite). She took every curve that life threw her and just lead-footed around them to live the way she wanted. She was born in the dry dust bowl, and just loved so fiercely and consistently that she ended up in a flourishing forest of love around her for her whole hundred years of life. Though not a musician, I remember her having a song for every occasion: “Put Your Shoes on Lucy”, “I Love You Because”, and “Mairzy Doats” were some of her favorites. In her later days, she battle with dementia, but she never forgot the lyrics to those songs. I thought that was amazing- and obviously I wrote a song about that, too. It’s called “Little Lambs Eat Ivy”. It makes everybody cry, but I think she would’ve liked it.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I’ll just answer this with one more lyric from The Flower; which is all about looking back, looking forward, changing, and standing still.
“When my life has been reduced to photographs and quotes, and the archers at my funeral set fire to my boat, I hope everybody sings of how amazing it can be to start off as a mountain range and end up as the sea.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charlseymillermusic.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/charlseymillermusic
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/charlseymillermusic
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vHwWvKkhLysAtHzqRtEvG?si=t18CVJywS06wZrQf-Qbm_A
