Bob Miller has been quietly making music and instruments in the backwoods of Eastern Ontario for four decades. Now, long overdue, he's releasing his first album of the music he's been playing most of his life.

During two snowy days in December 2018, four musicians gathered in a cottage in the woods of eastern Ontario to create a live album that would capture the music of Bob Miller, a guitar maker and longtime folk musician who lives in Sharbot Lake, Ontario, Canada.

For anyone who knows Bob, they know that he is a quiet and unassuming man of great talent. Before he became the guitar maker in the woods, Bob was part of the folk music scene in Toronto in the 1970s, and he’s been honing his musical skills and instrument-making abilities since. Bob's unique finger-picking style and warm vocals allow him to make familiar traditional songs his own.

Not only does Bob create beautiful music — he builds beautiful instruments. Beginning his guitar-making journey in the '70s, Bob learned the basics and set off to create the instruments that would project the musical voice he wanted to put out into the world.

Joining Bob on the album are Kaitlin and Meghan Balogh on fiddles. Both have been playing music with Bob since they were young enough to remember and each currently perform many styles of music with various musical groups in Eastern Ontario. Also joining Bob on the album is Steafan Hannigan, producer, on multiple instruments.

Steafan Hannigan is a world-class multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer who has worked with acts such as Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, Loreena McKennitt, Depeche Mode, Sin É, Uriah Heep, Eileen McGann, James Keelaghan, The Afro-celts, Michael Flatley, and dozens more in more than 20 countries. He is a skilled session musician and sound engineer, and has played on or produced more than 200 albums.

Steafan took on Bob’s album as a special project. Steafan and Bob’s paths crossed for the first time in 2014, and their mutual respect was instant. In Steafan’s own words: “I am in awe of his talent.”

This collection of traditional and Canadian folk songs as well as original pieces is the culmination of a lifetime of musical exploration — performed on Bob’s handmade guitars. Bob, Meghan, and Kaitlin recorded live off the floor in a little cottage in the woods in December 2018. It was an intense but exciting 36 hours during which time Steafan captured 17 unique tracks, most (or all) of which will be included on the album. Back in his home studio, Steafan filled out the album with some of the dozens of instruments he proficiently plays -- Irish pipes, whistles, flute, accordion, banjo, and more.