Drummer Allison Miller is a well-known figure on the New York jazz scene, but she’s also had a second career backing big-name folk and rock artists like Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Brandi Carlile. She released an album with her band Boom Tic Boom early this year, and has a new album, Parlour Game, with violinist Jenny Scheinman (who’s also in Boom Tic Boom), pianist Carmen Staaf — with whom she made the album Science Fair last year — and bassist Tony Scherr. Parlour Game will be out August 2.

In this interview, we talk about her drum sound and her approach to playing and recording, the various artists she’s backed, and her own bands. It’s a really fun, somewhat nerdy conversation, especially when we start in on talking about microphones and studio work, but I think it’s also really interesting, especially when she talks about working with bigger-name pop and rock artists and how that’s different from jazz gigs. I really enjoyed having this conversation, so I hope you’ll enjoy listening to it.

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Music heard in this episode:

Allison Miller/Jenny Scheinman, “116th & Congress” (Parlour Game)

Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, “Daughter and Sun” (Glitter Wolf)

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