Miller, a seventh-generation Texan, was born in Austin, Texas, to father Stewart Ransom "Randy" Miller, an attorney, and mother Ann Morwood (née Wilson Pugh). Miller\'s parents divorced when he was 17 years old. Miller, the oldest of three children, has a younger brother and sister. In 1952, Miller\'s paternal grandfather, Giles E. Miller, a young millionaire scion of a successful textile family, owned the first NFL football team in the South, the Dallas Texans. The Texans folded after seven games, marking the last time an NFL franchise would go bankrupt.\n', '

Miller\'s family lived in the Highland Park, Texas, neighborhood where he went to Armstrong Elementary School. In 4th grade Miller was hospitalized due to a severe inner-ear problem which resulted in a months-long hospitalization. In 6th grade he began attending St. Mark\'s School of Texas, a private boys\' school in North Dallas. Miller has said that his time at St. Mark\'s was very difficult, and that he was ostracized and bullied. His depression culminated in a suicide attempt at the age of 14. As part of the process of recovery Miller turned to music and started to play in bands in high school and became a local folk performer, headlining in small venues and opening for such nationally touring artists as Rosanne Cash, Chris Isaak, and The Lords of the New Church. In high school, he edited St. Mark’s literary magazine, and helped to start an alternative literary magazine called The Rag, for which he wrote poetry. He started taking guitar lessons when he was 12 years old, started writing songs when he was 13, and played his first gig at 15 years old in April 1985 at 500 Cafe in downtown Dallas.\n', '

In 1989, Miller graduated from St. Mark\'s School of Texas. He briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative writing scholarship before deciding to move back to Texas to pursue a music career.\n', '

Return to Rhett Miller Autograph Profile