World-Renowned Guitarist And Songwriter Molly Miller Releases The Single “Cine”

Renowned songwriter and guitarist Molly Miller has released “Cine,” the first song off of the forthcoming Molly Miller Trio album The Ballad of Hotspur, due out on May 3 and available for digital, CD and  Vinyl pre-order HERE .  “Cine” was composed virtually with bandmate, Jennifer Condos at the top of the pandemic.  The two collaborated on the track remotely, inspired by old westerns amidst the eery silence of the pandemic, which was then rounded out by Jay Bellerose’s cinematic drumming.

The Ballad of Hotspur is the trio’s third album and draws its name from a character in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, based on the 14th Century  English knight  Sir Henry Percy, who fought in numerous battles against the French in the Hundred Years War. He was given the nickname “Hotspur” as a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack. 

The album is a collection of instrumental Americana Jazz songs tinged with hints of surf rock and harkens back to 2020 when musicians were forced off the road by the pandemic. Molly realized she could take advantage of the moment to write new music, so she and Jennifer began sending ideas back and forth. After two years of writing and recording remotely the trio reconvened in person for the first time in just over two years at LA’s Valentine Studios to record the album in just two days, with the intention of capturing the dynamic energy of the group’s live show in the studio.  The trio self-produced the LP with the help of sound engineer Jason Wormer (T Bone Burnett). “There’s no such thing as perfect, but the more real and alive a recording is the better it feels,” says Molly. “To me, music is simply capturing an instance in the room.”

Guitar is everything to Molly, who has been playing music since age seven, originally performing in a family band with her four siblings and drawing inspiration from artists like Jimi Hendrix, Mickey Baker, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. In high school, she got into jazz, an obsession that continued into her years studying at USC, where she eventually earned her BA, MA, and doctorate in musical arts. A few weeks after graduating in 2016, Jason Mraz asked Molly to play with him. The same year, she became the chair of the guitar department at the Los Angeles College of Music. Since then, Molly has balanced performance and teaching, becoming a professor of studio guitar at USC in 2022. Along with Mraz, she’s played with artists such as the  Black Eyed Peas, Scary Pockets, Sin Bandera, and Pomplamoose at the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, and Coachella, and Molly Miller Trio has toured as an opening act for Mraz and performed at Monterey Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s at Lincoln Center, and SF Jazz.

For Molly, the guitar is her voice. It’s a place of stillness. It’s a way of tapping into deeper thoughts and emotions. And, most importantly, it’s how she can be of use in the world.  Molly will be on tour with Jason Mraz this summer and will be announcing solo dates to support the album in the coming weeks.