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Hillbilly-Music.com—The People. The Music. The History.
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About The Artist David Miller, known as The Blind Soldier, was the first country vocalist from the state of West Virginia to record and possibly to sing on radio. Miller was born in Miller, Ohio, a few miles upstream and across the Ohio River from Huntington, West Virginia. As a youth he moved to the larger town of Guyandotte, West Virginia. During World War I, he enlisted in the West Virginia National Guard, but shortly afterward an army doctor told him he was going blind and he received a discharge. He sustained his livelihood singing and playing on the streets of Huntington and Guyandotte. In 1924, Miller recorded his first song on the Gennett label at a studio in Cincinnati. Over the next seven years until 1931, he recorded several more songs for Gennett, Paramount, and the American Record Corporation. His songs ranged from Victorian ballads such as "Two Little Orphans" to numbers like "It's Hard to be Shut Up in Prison," as well as guitar instrumentals. From about 1927 until 1933, Blind Davey also sang on WSAZ radio in Huntington, sometimes with a string band called the West Virginia Mockingbirds. After his death, he was buried back in Miller, Ohio. Credits & Sources
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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
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