By Brandon McGlone
sports@garrardcentralrecord.com

(Lancaster, KY - March 31, 2021) — Alex Miller’s journey on ‘American Idol’ officially came to an end on Sunday when ABC aired the series’ Showstopper Round of competition. After performing Merle Haggard’s ‘Silver Wings’ with a full band, judges Katy Perry and Luke Bryan informed the local country artist that he would not be advancing into the top-24 stage of live voting.

“I’m a huge believer in what you are and I’m sorry to be the deliverer of the news,” Bryan told Miller after giving the artist advice for moving forward in his career.

“We’re so excited to see who Alex is,” Perry added.

The judges had tried to nudge Miller into breaking a bit from his roots of old-school country western, but he had already given producers a list of potential songs he would like to do before returning to California for Hollywood Week (which Miller said actually takes two weeks to film). The producers had already given approval of the song choices and cleared the rights. Still, Miller wanted to heed the judges’ advice as much as was in his control, so he attempted to bring Haggard’s hit as far into the 21st century as possible. 

“Silver Wings is kind of more a progressive song than some of the older country songs, in my opinion, and it was one I knew very well and knew I could do a decent job on,” Miller explained. “That’s why I picked it, and you can also modernize that song pretty well too. With that band I wasn’t about to do an original. Playing with a band like that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I was going to do something with them no matter what. Why not do what I love best -- old country music? They did things a little different than the record, some more bridge type things in there, and that was cool to get a different musical approach to it.”

After hearing that his time on the show was finished Miller broke the news to his father, Roger, who was waiting outside the auditorium. Alex then told host Ryan Seacrest, “I don’t think this is the end of anything. I think it’s only the beginning of things… I’m 17 years old. I got my whole life ahead of me and there’s always room for improvement on anything, I’ve always thought, and this is just one way to improve.”

While it was a sad moment for Miller and his supporters, the disappointment was eased a bit when the show cut forward to show Bryan offering Miller the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Do remember a certain promise that I made you during your audition process?” Bryan asked Miller over webcam, referring to Alex’s first appearance on the show when Luke said he would make some calls about getting the young man a performance on the iconic Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville. “I’ve made some calls to my good friends… and they’ve agreed to let my buddy Alex Miller come perform at the Grand Ole Opry.”

Bryan suggested that he may share the stage with Miller as well.

“Luke Bryan calling was a complete surprise for us,” Miller told the Garrard Central Record Monday night. “They told us there was an ‘American Idol’ call so we hopped on. We were just expecting to talk to some producers about something, but then Luke Bryan popped in. I was like, ‘Uh oh, this is going to be good!’ Either really good or really bad anyway. They said for momma to get her camera and to make sure to film, so I knew they were going to get a reaction out of me one way or another. What you saw on TV was how I was really acting that day. I was on cloud nine!”

Social media was abuzz after it was revealed Miller would not be advancing in the competition. Many fans felt like the judges made a mistake and were making their disappointment known, but Miller was very adamant that he respected the judges’ decision and was extremely grateful for every door ‘Idol’ has opened.

“If anybody knows anything about me they know the Grand Ole Opry is something I’ve always dreamed about,” he said. “The last thing that needs to happen is for Luke to get dogged over this. I feel like he deserves a lot of credit for this and it’s nice that he’s doing this for me.”

Miller said he will take the judges’ criticisms to heart.

“I think they broke it to me about as honest as they possibly could,” he said. “I think I needed that honesty from them, and clarification on what to improve upon with myself, my music, and my direction in life. All they had was nice things to say. They didn’t say I sucked, they didn’t say, ‘Go back to Lancaster and stay there,’ or nothing like that. I think they have just as much hope in me as the people around here (in Lancaster) do. It was nice to see that from them and nice to get that approval from people like that.

“From the beginning this was always a see-what-I-can-do type of thing. It’s very sad that I had to go home -- I can’t say I’m not disappointed -- but at the same time I’ve learned so much. Even though my time on the show is done, this is only the beginning for me.”

In an earlier interview with Miller he explained how his grandfather, GB Miller, was instrumental in his passion for music. GB introduced him to Cash, Williams and Haggard, and served as Alex’s de facto manager as he was booking gigs as a kid. Alex was thrilled to share with GB the news that he would be performing at the Mecca of country music, the Opry.

“One of the first things I did afterwards was go out and tell my grandad,” Miller explained. “He looked at me kind of funny and said, ‘Yeah, I knew you were going to go out there,’ like it was nothing. That was cool. He’s always had that confidence in me. He said he always knew I was going to go, he just didn’t know it would be this soon.”

Other than a select few in his immediate family, Miller had to keep many aspects of his ‘Idol’ experience a secret, including what he would be performing, how far he made it in the competition, and even the web call he had with Bryan on March 10.

“I’ve known about four months (the outcome) and not been able to tell anybody anything,” he said. “People that know me know that it was a challenge within itself to keep my mouth shut for two minutes, let alone four months. I didn’t tell anybody though and if they asked I’d say something like, “Well you’ll just have to wait and see if you get to vote for me.” I hate telling people that kind of stuff because I hate people that lie, but I think that was one of those little white lies I could tell and not feel bad about.”

Now that his time on ‘Idol’ is finished, Miller was free to share some of the moments that didn’t make it to air.

“I was doing an interview with Seacrest and he asked when I knew I was a country boy,” Miller let the Central Record in on some behind-the-scenes information. “I said, ‘Well, when I discovered my love for cornbread I reckon is when I figured out I was a country boy.’ He asked what kind I liked -- the sweet cornbread? And I said, ‘No, the Jiffy© kind!’ ”

Miller shared another funny moment with Bobby Bones, the mentor for ‘Idol’ and host of Circle TV’s show ‘Opry,’ a weekly live-recorded series of performances from the Grand Ole Opry.

“I was doing an interview with Bobby Bones and we were out by the swimming pool talking,” Miller explained. “I started crying, like real tears. That chlorine I reckon from that pool was so strong it had gotten in my face and was making me cry. He finally asked, ‘Are you alright?’ And I said, ‘No, Bobby, I’m just tearing up being around all these celebrities!’ ”

Miller said he will always remember moments like those, the people he got to meet, the friends he made, and the lessons he learned.

“I had a blast as everybody kinda probably figured I would,” he said. “It’s sad going home but it’s definitely something I’ll never forget. I can always tell people I’ve been a part of it and show them that golden ticket up there in that big ol’ frame. I’m very grateful for the whole ‘American Idol’ experience all the way around. I’m very glad that I’ve been a part of this and that little old Lancaster has been put on the map. Southern Roots doing t-shirts for me and stuff -- it’s neat to see the community come out and support me like this. It just goes to show we may be small but we can still support local people in a big way. It’s always nice to have that small-town background.”

Miller’s calendar has become quite full, but not so full that he wasn’t able to set aside an evening for his senior prom. His social media accounts have exploded with followers since appearing on TV, but perhaps his most popular posting is his “promposal” to fellow GCHS senior Abby Isaacs -- the video has nearly 100 thousand views on TikTok.

“We were sitting in the library the first day we were all back at school and she said she didn’t have a prom date yet,” Miller recalled. “I told her I’d go because I didn’t have nobody either. I was kind of kidding around. Well, she wasn’t. She said, ‘I’m serious, I’ll take ya,’ and I said, ‘Okay, that sounds like a plan to me.’ She told me I needed to do a promposal and I was like, ‘What in the world is a promposal?’ So I looked it up and figured out what it was. Of course I didn’t have a plan because I never go into things like that with a plan. 

“Last Friday we had an ice cream social at the school and they were asking who I was taking to prom. I said I couldn’t tell them because it wasn’t official -- I hadn’t prom-posed. They said I needed to write a little song or something so I just sat down right there for about five minutes and put that little honey gem together, went and sang it, and she said yes.”

But don’t worry young ladies, they are just going as friends.

“Alex is still single,” Miller reassured.

Miller’s life has certainly changed over the course of the last several months, and in that time he said he has learned a lot about his family and himself.

“I’ve learned that my family truly, truly has put everything into this and have my back,” he said. “I’ve learned about myself that I can take stuff like a man and will always look to do better and look to improve myself.”

What’s next for the Kentucky Kowboy? While nothing is completely ironed out, Miller said he expects to have some big gigs coming his way soon, including opening at the Kentucky Fair for Josh Turner and opening for Hank William, Jr. soon in Wisconsin.

Unlike the silver wings that he sang about in his final ‘American Idol’ performance, it is highly unlikely that Miller’s career will be “slowly fading out of sight.”