Program Note:   

Over two decades, the singer, songwriter, and poet Jaik Miller (February 2, 1970 – February 24, 2012) collaborated with a wide variety of master artists including Patti Smith, Warren Haynes, John Popper, and Suzanne Vega. Several of his own projects achieved cult status, including Xanax 25, Jerk, TRUStY, Jaik Miller Band, and Dennis Black, Instant Classic! Miller's alter ego of 2010.  Shortly before his passing in 2012, the haunting melody The Event was released from his final project with urban country supergroup The New Years.

Jaik's Songs collects eight of Jaik's poems. They move from the hurlyburly of daily life through memories both pleasant and stark, to a final rueful consolation. Commissioned by the Jaik Miller Foundation, dedicated to encouraging work inspired by Jaik's music and poetry, the cycle alludes to fragments of melody from a number of Jaik's own songs (and songs that he alludes to in his poetry by John Lennon and others) while exploring the complex psychological and emotional makeup of the poet.