Being a good singer is one thing, but to be a good singer, songwriter and guitar player, that's what the music industry would consider to be a unicorn — a rare and magical find.

In the world of country-folk music, John R. Miller is a unicorn.

The music-loving community of northern Colorado will have a chance to check out Miller's music as he makes his way to the Moxi Theater and to the city of Greeley for the first time on Friday.

"We've done about 7 or 8 shows so far and we probably have about as many until we get to the end. We are coming home early October after going out to Colorado," Miller said. "I've never actually been to Greeley and I am looking forward to it."

Born and raised in a small town in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, Miller chose music over sports when he was 14 years old and found a string guitar in a closet in his family home.

"I tried to teach myself to play guitar and started writing songs, or trying to write songs. Very fortunately that was the days before the Internet and none of that stuff has survived, thankfully," he said, chuckling. "I started in garage bands with friends and write songs like the music I was listening to at the time which was punk and indie rock kind of stuff."

"Depreciated" is singer/songwriter John R. Miller's newest album. (Photo courtesy John R. Miller)

After a stint in college, Miller found a purpose and a path in old time and traditional fiddle music where he said his "whole musical world started to open up."

Starting his own string band, Miller hit the road as a full-time traveling musician.

"We started traveling around a whole lot and we'd go to the city and busk to try to make ends meet until we started getting gigs," Miller explained.

The Nashville-based musician's latest album, "Depreciated," is the perfect example of Miller's writing, singing and guitar picking skills.

Miller admits that he's "still trying to learn" the art of songwriting.

"It's a never-ending process and I'm trying to get better at it," he said. "But I think I was introduced to some of my favorite song writers when I was 18 or 19 years old. That was the first time I'd heard John Prine and Steve Earle and the Texas guys and just sort of gravitated towards that. I really love ruthlessly poetic songwriters."

Critics have called Miller a "picking poet" after listening to his evocative and lyrically dense songwriting style, which makes sense since the musician said most of his songs start out as poems with the musical portion being added in later.

"I write with a basic rhythm and meter in mind. Then I try to add music to that after the fact," he said.

The song "Looking Over My Shoulder" is akin to a sorrowful love poem while "Borrowed Time" speaks to economic depreciation, the passing of time and making the most of the time we do have.

Singer/songwriter John R. Miller's music can be described as country-folk with a mix of honky tonk. (Photo courtesy John R. Miller)

Living a life on the road can take a toll on a person and their relationships and Miller is quite open about his struggles with depression and self-medicating as well as his arrests, relationships lost and other challenges.

"You know, I guess it's just sort of a part of the story I guess. I feel like a lot of that stuff is universal and people can relate to those feelings. I don't think it's something to hide or act like it's not a real thing," he said. "I'm doing a lot better these days. I think it was environmental, a lot of it. I've found a nice place to be and I kind of grown through a lot of that stuff."

As with a majority of performers, 2020 was a year filled with canceled shows and uncertainty.

"We were Clorox-ing our groceries like everybody else and we weren't sure what the hell was going on," he said. "But after a while I really settled into a daily routine for the first time in my life. I had been traveling and touring for 15 years so I wasn't going to stop unless someone forced me to — and the pandemic forced me to."

While he missed touring and performing live, the return to the road was "psychologically strange."

"We've been taking it for granted and doing it for so long and you know, when it got cut off and we weren't really doing anything for a whole year, the heaviness of the moment really made me feel a little strange about going out and doing it again," Miller said. "It seemed like an alien thing at first because contextually the world totally changed and I wasn't even sure how to connect with music in the same way, or anything in the same way.

"But as I've been doing it more, I have found myself enjoying it more than ever," he added.

Doors for Miller's show open at 8 p.m. with the concert beginning at 9 p.m. The theater is operating at full capacity and masks are not required to attend the show.

Tickets for the show range from $15-$120 and all responsible ages with a valid photo ID are welcome to attend.

For more information on the John R. Miller show, or to purchase tickets, go to https://bit.ly/3zXGsBx.