Euclid Tavern Hosts Celebration of Bill “Mr. Stress” Miller

Mr.Stress

Tue 6/2 @ 6-10PM

Cleveland blues icon Bill Miller, who performed as Mr. Stress, died Mon 5/18 in his Cleveland Heights apartment. The 72-year-old singer/harmonica player had been in failing health for a more than a decade, and had suffered a stroke in 2013, while doing a radio interview. From the ’70s to the ’90s, Miller was a fixture at the Euclid Tavern in University Circle, performing there virtually every weekend. That his reputation for the stellar, passionate music he was playing never extended beyond regional borders was immortalized by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders on their 1980 debut album. In the song “Precious,” she sings “Howard Duck and Mr. Stress both stayed in a world they never made.” It was a shout-out to a performer she admired and respected. The news came to us via blues musician Colin Dussault who was taking care of Miller’s affairs and looking out for him when he fell on hard times. We wrote about that last year when Dussault put together a 70-track CD package featuring popular area musicians ranging from Michael Stanley to Alex Bevan to Carlos Jones to benefit the Stress Relief Fund, earmarked for Miller’s care and living expenses. In the year when we’re celebrated the centennial of Robert Lockwood Jr who died in 2006 at the age of 91, the Cleveland blues scene has lost another of its cornerstones. It’s fitting that the Euclid Tavern will host a memorial for him this Tue 5/26 from 6-10pm. It’s open-door — everyone is invited to come down, celebrate, play, listen, share their stories and learn about his contributions to Cleveland blues. facebook.com/events/ StressCelebration  

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106

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