Steve Miller says he will continue to celebrate his half-century as a recording artist with more releases next year.
He tells Billboard he has "three or four CDs worth of stuff," adding that "some of it's really, really, really good. It's not perfect by any means, but it's great. I've realized I'm just this absurd perfectionist and some of it is embarrassing and horrible, to me, and to other people it's really interesting. So it's not just what I think, it's what other people think and what’s interesting to other people, and we're going to put it out next year."
Miller is also looking to cut back on touring. "I'm at this point where I've been touring basically non-stop for 16 years, and I want to sort of stop and consider what's left to do in the time I have left, which is...who knows? I just want to take about 18 months off and think about everything and write some new stuff and think about how I want to go out and how I want this last run to be. I've done this two or three times, where I've taken sabbaticals. I can't go away for three or four years like I've done before, but I'm going to take time off and re-think what I'm doing. I'm gonna read and write and I'm gonna re-organize everything and start afresh in 2021 -- June, I think. That's the way I'm looking at it right now."
Up next for Miller is another of his special performances at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center -- where he is a board member -- in which explores the blues roots of jazz. He'll be joined by Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives band for a pair of Music From Appalachia shows Friday and Saturday. Miller and Stuart will also tour together next summer.