Dan Miller is a Nashville mainstay, television personality, and accomplished musician—the kind of talent that normally doesn’t set down roots in small Wyoming towns. But for Dan, the face of the Dan Miller Cowboy Music Revue at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming is a perfect fit—a place to raise a family, follow his passion for music and performing, and do what everyone hopes to do in Wyoming: have an authentic experience in the American West.
Why cowboy music?
We’ve played for people from 65 countries, and when they come [to Cody], they want to hear western music. People want a western experience, and we wanted to be a part of that. It’s the perfect place for a western music. It’s the authentic west that people crave—cowboys moving cattle, cowboys singing songs around a campfire. I think that will always be an inseparable part of Cody, Wyoming and that western experience.
So how did you go about bringing that experience to the stage?
When I came to Cody, there was no music around that was stamped as “western.” I thought there was a place for it here. I really wanted myself and the people playing with me to have that “listening venue” sort of setup. It’s a theatre setting, where people come to listen, enjoy themselves, and have an experience. Music, entertainment, cowboy poetry—all of those are intertwined to make a presentation that hopefully people want to experience and take part in.
You’ve watched Hannah grow up as your daughter and as a musician. What is that like for you?
It’s the best. Trust is a wonderful thing on the stage. To be on stage, look over, and see my daughter and know that this is a part of a relationship—it’s special. We can talk horses and life together, but talking music together and working on something together—there’s nothing better than that.
You bond with your family, follow your passion of performing, and run a business at the same time. Not a lot of people can do that. Does this feel like a natural fit to you?
It does, and it’s all I’ve ever done. But I’m so incredibly blessed and so lucky. I lot of people sing better than I do, and a lot of people are better businesspeople, but we hung in there. It’s tough to get started. Believing it, having the dream, and just being lucky—that’s what got me here.
Any performances with the show that stick out to you?
When Hannah does a new song, or Wendy sings a new song, and it works, that’s what is special to me. It’s hard to explain: when you get up onstage, and everything clicks, I don’t care if there’s two people in the audience or 200, it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing. Those are the moments that stand out to me.
