Easy Rider creator, front man, and lead guitarist is Mike Miller. While he is a little younger than most in his field, he is not lacking in his extensive knowledge of roots music. He has been rocking his brand of Soul, strong vocals, slide guitar, and Jerry Garcia licks since 2008 and has adapted it his to his own style and tone which is rarely emulated. Mike lives every day inundated in music. He has also become a hired gun in the music scene. He works as a hired sub for bands or studio work that needs done. He has become one of the most hard-working local musicians in the area, playing in 6 different projects and touring all over the country from Coast to Coast each year. He also hosts a weekly open stage that has successfully been running for many years. Through the years he has covered Legend guitar players such as Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, john Lennon, George Harrison & many more.
Aaron Miller (Bass/Vox) is a seasoned veteran of many styles of music and has been a staple in the Peoria scene for years. Performing in such groups as The Creek Road Ramblers and Brainchild, not to mention hosting multiple open stages, Aaron is one of the busiest and most in demand musicians in the area, and a bit of a local legend!
Nick Fairley (Drums) comes from a diverse musical background, having played in Classical, Jazz, Latin, Rock and blues ensembles over the years. He's been steadily backing a number of great projects around the area, catching the eye of all the heavy hitters on the scene. He frequently performs around Central Illinois as a freelance drummer and percussionist and is also available for private drum instruction.
Bob Kelly is a nationally touring musician/ percussionist based out of Peoria Illinois. He has shared the stage with many acts ranging from metal to jazz and blues. Currently playing with Easy Riders, Brainchild, Alison Hanna Band and Sweet Cheeks all based out of Peoria.
We are a well-rounded and versatile band that has played to any setting. We play anything from traditional blues, jazz, bluegrass, gospel, acoustic music, rock, Raggae, Funk and original music. We host open mics and back bands twice a week back home so we have a laundry list of songs and styles we can perform. With great vocal harmonies, commanding Guitar Slide playing & Vintage styles from early rock & roll & hall of fame blues to Jerry Garcia. It is music for the Soul!
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
The Easy Riders have successfully hit the road and played over 100 shows in 2023 and a 30-day tour in the US Virgin Islands for their fourth tour down south. including but not limited to:
- Being the house band for the VIP tent at their 10th appearance at Summer Camp Music Festival. Playing three to four sets over three nights and rubbing elbows with some top touring musicians. Mike, Kid, & Aaron were lucky enough to play an improvisational one hour set three times with Victor Wooten & Reggie Wooten & Roosevelt C. (The Lee Boys).
-The band also spends time touring the USA twice a year. We recently just got back from our Mountains & the Moon tour. We played through Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, & Iowa. They played a variety of places from 5-star restaurants to popular local music venues, Brewery's, Hot Springs, Coffee spots and Historic downtown venues. Things look really promising and gaining a lot of traction the past couple years.
Easy Riders has played events such as Blues Fest in the past, Summer Camp Music Festival 13years in a row), and have also opened for The Marshall Tucker Band, John Kadlecik Band (Further w/members of Grateful Dead). They Have also shared the same bill as MOE. Bob Weir, Umphrey's McGee, Victor Wooten, Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band & Dead & Co.) The Wailers, Buddy Guy.
The Easy Riders have continued to be represented on WTIP radio station in Grand Marais, MN. Spring tour 2019 we made our Roadhouse debut and preformed a Live set-in studio, and a on air interview. Link - https://www.wtip.org/easy-riders-make-roadhouse-debutfbclid=IwAR3VJV0Eqtl6En1d0suqjM_KPJ2RITcudkWf3xKrYLzkZdOYiTO7tuoe9oM.
Years back Easy Riders were hand selected from this region to represent Peoria IL for The International Blues Challenge, "Road To Memphis" and shared a bill with The Johnny Winter Band. In 2016 they have been invited to play again at the Peoria Blues & Heritage Music Festival.
In past years for Halloween events, the band has covered The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia Band, Warren Haynes, Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks Band, B.B King, Joe Cocker, The Beatles, and The Band, & Dr. John!
On Sept 8th, 2017, Easy Riders released their second Album "Mountains & the Moon". This is a 9 track album consisting of all new original music. Track 1 Taken' the show on the Road, was featured on99.9WWCT Local Music Showcase. You can find both albums on Apple iTunes, and on Spotify & all streaming sites!
In October of 2019, On the road again Fall tour. Easy Riders recorded a live disc in Idaho called the "Yellowstone Cabin sessions". Most songs were recorded live with a few takes, and a handful tracked out. This bootleg Album was released in December of 2019 & is Available now on iTunes and streaming sites! We are very proud that we just finished up our US Virgin Island Winter tour in February 2023. We played close to 20 shows from full band, solo, duo, to mashing up a local band (Poet Loung) with Easy Riders,
We played shows between STT, STX & STJ island. We also contributed money back to the local school with a portion of our merchandise sales. We made a name for ourselves on the islands and will be returning one to two times through peak season!
The Easy Riders hope to see you on the road in 2024!
For questions or booking Email: easyridersmusic@gmail.com