Troy Millette — 17 March 2021 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour

Troy Millette joined host Tom Proctor on ‘Rocket Shop,’ Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9 FM The Radiator. Keep in touch with him at facebook.com/troy.millette

Troy Millette opened Rocket Shop this Wednesday with the song “Things We Whisper in the Dark.” As the title track of the new album, he hopes to release it within the next few months. Troy described the recording process as going smoothly, but it has been a challenge with COVID-19. The band released a single recently that Troy described as “this folk-pop thing that doesn’t have any real instruments in it.” Currently, they are in the midst of organizing the album and trying to figure out which ten to twelve songs to include.

The band actually consists of five musicians but they all play under the name Troy Millette. “Unless I come up with a really cool name, I think I’ll stick with the one my mama gave me.” 

In Troy’s case, he loves playing with a band. He loves, “that sense of camaraderie. To feel like you have that army behind you. To hear from four other brains, what they come up with has been awesome, in terms of developing songs for the album.” 

Troy treats songwriting as his “version of journaling. At first, I could just play these six chords and get away with it. After awhile of getting away with it, eventually, you have something important to say. The story is the attraction itself. Everybody has something they want to say or wishes they could say.”

It has been said that, when onstage, Troy embodies an alternate persona. When asked about this, he said, “I think the persona is just me but louder. Giving me a microphone is the most dangerous thing anyone can do, and people are paying me to do that, and I just say, “alright man, it’s your five hundred bucks.”

Before the pandemic, the band had a loaded schedule. They had shows planned in NYC and would have even played with Ringo Starr by the end of the summer of 2020. “That would have been pretty iconic for me,” Troy said.

Throughout the pandemic, the band did a few live streams for online shows. Troy specifically is looking forward to just being able to play anywhere in public again. When asked he said he “wants to play all the venues. Right now, I think touring is everyone’s biggest goal. I’m not taking anything for granted after this.”

Troy can be found on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and his website.

Text by Phil Franklin - Photo by James Lockridge