Randy and Sherri Miller: Lyrics, Laughter and Love

By Lorraine Walker

Randy and Sherri Miller are accomplished Gospel artists who are singing, speaking
and laughing their way across America. Randy is a Kingsmen alumni, a recipient of numerous
Singing News and other Southern Gospel awards and a lifetime inductee of the Alabama Music
Hall of Fame. Sherri sang with her family, The Kenny Parker Trio, before doing session and
stage work with such artists as Dolly Parton, The Judds and Michael English. Today this couple
has joined their accomplished vocals, love of life and ability to make others laugh as they share
their music with audiences far and wide.

When Randy Miller left the Kingsmen, he began a solo career and started Snippa Creek Studios.
Sherri Parker Miller joins her husband in making music and laughter with their recently released
Randy Miller Comedy album and the soon-to-be released Where It All Comes From. If
something taps into your emotions, whether through humor or song, it will work its way into
your heart; but it all comes from the Lord as far as the Millers are concerned.

The title track of Where It All Comes From is sung by Sherri and written by Kenna Turner West,
one of Southern Gospel’s most prolific songwriters. The song is currently on Sound Cloud and
showcases the versatility of this talented couple. Kenna says, “Sherri is an amazing vocal talent
and all who know her appreciate her sweet, joyful spirit.”

Dusty Wells, head of sales and marketing at Word Entertainment, shares, “I love Sherri! I
remember the first time I met Sherri was at the National Quartet Convention years ago while
sitting with Dottie Rambo at The Rambo’s booth. I knew of her because her Daddy, Kenny
Parker, was The Rambo’s long time pianist. So when this blonde curly haired little beauty of a
girl came to the booth, Dottie just went on and on about her and how special she was. Our
friendship grew over the years.”

“What I love about Sherri is that not only is she a wonderful singer and communicator,
but she is a lover of people,” says Wells. “She is always consistent, always happy and always
caring for others. I love her spirit and I love that God is using her. She is so special and I cherish
her friendship!”

Another close friend of the couple is Johnathan Bond of Young Harmony. “I love Sherri and
Randy because they practice what they preach, plus they are awesome to be around. Also, during
a very dark period of my life, they offered a shoulder. They are Christians in action!”

Through the friendship of many in the Gospel music industry, Randy and Sherri have been
able to make some of their dreams come true, such as their studios. “We recorded Where It All
Comes From at Snippa Creek Studios,” says Randy. “We’ve got a location in Alabama and in
Nashville, but most of it has been done in Alabama which is our larger studio of the two. We
bring the Nashville guys down and track down there.” Studio players included Jeremy Metcalfe,
Reggie Duncan, Danny Crawford and Scott Maynard.

“One of the songs that we recorded on Where It All Comes From is called “Make My Heart
Your Home’ and was written by my Dad, Kenny Parker,” says Sherri. “It’s a song that Janet
Paschal recorded 25 years ago, maybe longer, when she was with Jimmy Swaggart. We decided
that we would re-do that for many reasons, but it was very emotional for me and then for Mom to
hear it too.”

“As far as our background vocals, Sherri and I did pretty much everything because we’ve
vocally schizophrenic,” jokes Randy. “We thought, ‘well it would be great to get so and so to
sing on this project’; but it’s hard to get people together with our schedules. To wait would
delay the album a tremendous amount. So we just do it ourselves because Sherri and I both do
background sessions for tons of people.” Sherri laughs, “Plus, we’re cheap! No, just kidding!”

“There’s another song we’re doing on the project called ‘Bedtime Prayer’ and it was
written by a good friend, Joe Stephens who writes for our publishing company,” says Randy. “It
has just a drive about it,” Randy continues. “The message is about being strong and telling the
truth. It seems recently that maybe the Message has been watered down a little bit. I think it just
speaks directly to the Truth; that we need to stand up and declare God’s Truth and declare the
Word.”

“I take from it, ‘don’t forget what you’re supposed to be doing and get out there and do
it, and keep pushing on towards the prize’” says Sherri. “Don’t forget your bedtime prayers.
There are several lines in the song that are strong to me but every time we sing it, it is just really
powerful to me.

“Joe Stephens is a great writer from here in Murfreesboro and writes for us a good bit,”
says Randy. “He’s a super writer, just a young kid, real goofy. He’s a short little redhead and I
call him the Lucky Charms guy. Birds of a feather flock together and I surround myself with fun-
loving jokers,” he laughs. “I think “Bedtime Prayers” is probably going to be released at the first
of the year.”

Randy and Sherri’s fans look forward to new music, but their audience really enjoys
anything this couple brings to the stage. “There’s a song that we do, it’s called ‘Faithful’; people
really respond well to it,” says Randy. “It’s usually an outpouring of response because people go
through trials and tribulations. I heard a fellow say once that we’ve either gone through a trial,
we’re in a trial, or we’re about to go through one. But through it all we have to know that we
have a Father Who is faithful through it all. It really hits home with a lot of people.”

The Miller’s music helps them connect with many people on the road and some who are
privileged to call them friends. Brother Toby Hughes, Associate Pastor of New Zion Baptist
Church in Covington, Louisiana, says, “Randy and Sherri Miller have blessed New Zion Baptist
Church of Covington, L.A. over the past five years or more. Our church still marvels at the
many God-given talents they have: multiple instruments and a range of styles, all presented in a
humble, and at the same time, joyous and energetic way. They are God’s live action team! We
look forward to having them back in 2013.”

Delmus Pinkard, Lay Minister of the House of Prayer Church of God in Oxford, Alabama
says, “We had this couple at our church and they were a great blessing. They are truly anointed
of God. We love their style of Southern Gospel music.”

Other friends of the couple, Bob and Connie Scott, also enjoy the Miller’s style of music.
“Such a super talented couple that love God, they are what I would call just down-home friendly
folks that I truly love to be around. I always look forward and anticipate seeing them; being with
them and hearing them minister.”

Along with traveling and ministering in churches, The Millers are busy by the Snippa
Creek Studios work. “I built Snippa Creek Studios several years ago, says Randy. “We have
two locations, one around the Auburn, Alabama area in Beulah, and a studio right outside of
Nashville in Christiana, Tennessee. We have Nashville guys that we use and they don’t mind
traveling between the two places. These are guys that I’ve worked with throughout the years
and throughout my music career. We’ll go to BBQ’s together and eat chicken and play frisbee
and that kind of thing. We go back and forth; we keep the roads hot, between Tennessee and
Alabama, working from one studio to the other.”

“At the studio in Alabama, we have an apartment that is built onto it and we use that
for clients who travel,” Randy explains. “We’ve traveled all of our lives; we know that it takes
money when you’re out doing an album, when you’re there for five days and you’re paying for
five nights in a hotel. We’ve taken that into consideration so clients can stay in the apartment
while they’re recording.” Randy is accomplished in the studio as well and has worked with many
of the major talents in Gospel music including the Kingsmen, Gold City, Cathedrals, Gaithers,
and Squire Parsons.

Randy is also a songwriter, although lately he says he’s been writing more comedy songs
than serious gospel tunes. Sherri says, “He likes to write funny songs about me, so he’s been
writing songs about my cooking, my driving and anything he can find to pick on me about.
People end up really liking me by the end of the concert and are mad at him, so it works out
good,” she laughs.

“You know there are a lot of married couples out there and my comedy just talks about
life pretty much,” says Randy. “Mostly I’m making fun of just myself or Sherri. I just talk about
her not cooking, as I do all the cooking and I like it and she doesn’t have to cook. But I talk
about trying to teach her how to cook something…” Sherri interrupts, “Or drive the car”. Randy
explains, “We bought a van. It was on a Wednesday night, we signed the papers and by Thursday
morning Sherri had already wrecked it. We got it back from the body shop and she ran into
somebody else. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, she ran into one of those little poles beside the
gas pumps and locked it in there.” By this time, both are laughing and Randy says, “So I’ve got
some places to get humor from!”

“You learn to laugh at yourself and that’s where most of the comedy comes from,”
Randy continues. “You know, songs about losing your car and how you can’t find your car in the
parking lot, or one song talks about the extreme price of coffee. You’ve paid $6.00 for a latte,
and I’m sure most people out there have paid four or five dollars for a cup of coffee. You sit

there and say no I’m not going to do that, but you had to have the coffee, it’s so delicious. You
can find humor in life; you just have to keep your eyes open.”

Sherri loves her husband’s songwriting and laughs along with the audience. “My favorite
one Randy wrote is called ‘Gone to Church Again,’” says Sherri. “It talks about when he was
a little boy and how when he would stay with his grandma, she’d load him up for church every
time the doors were open. One time he protested and didn’t want to go and he had a ‘come to
Jesus’ meeting with his grandma in the yard. He ended up going to church. And he didn’t forget
about it!”

Everywhere the Millers sing, people want to hear Randy’s stories, so he decided he
had to make a recording. “I played everything on the Comedy Album and I did all of it just by
myself,” says Randy. “I told Sherri on a Monday, ‘I’m going to do a comedy album,’ and by
Friday we had product. I think they’ve heard so much bad news and gloom and doom, they want
to laugh ‘Happy is the man whose God is the Lord.’ And I’m always laughing.”

Randy and Sherri are more thankful than ever for family who keep them grounded and
surrounded with support. “It’s hard to balance everything but we do it,” says Randy. “Thank God
for grandparents! That’s all I can say. They help and a lot of times the kids go with us on the
road.”

One of the Miller grandparents, Ann Miller, is Randy’s mother and one of the couple’s
biggest fans. “I guess the number one reason I love them so much is because they are my
family,” says Ann. “Another reason I love them is that they are so much fun to be around.
Believe me, there is never a dull moment with these two. The third reason is that they are so
talented. It is so amazing to watch them take the stage and minister in comedy, song and praise.
They are a blessing to me!”

With their children growing up, the Millers are entering a new season of life. Sherri
explains, “They’re getting a lot older now, they’re teenagers and driving and stuff like that. So
they’ll go with us if they can. They’re really involved here at home in church and everything, so
they sometimes have a lot going on and they’ll stay home. But they like to be right in the middle
of all our antics so a lot of times they go with us.”

“They love music and aspire to do something in ministry involving music, singing and
preaching and everything,” says Sherri. “So we’re proud of that, that God’s got His Hand on
their lives, and leading them into being crazy people like we are I guess! We have three kids.
Our two boys, Parker and Preston, are 17 and 16 and Kirsten is 13. So we need all your prayers!
That’s all I can say—three teenagers…” Sherri laughs.

Randy says the teenagers are not really an official part of the traveling team. “Every once
in a while they’ll help unload some speakers or something like that but typically no, they don’t
do anything on stage.”

Sherri says, “We’re working them towards it though. The other night we had a couple of
hours before one of our concerts and I found all of them in the back. They had some praise and

worship songbooks and they were putting on their own little concert. Before it ended, the youth
pastor and his kids and a bunch of other people were with them, just singing it up. So you never
know, we might have the Miller Family Band traveling around, like the Partridge Family, or I
don’t know, the Klaudt Indian Family!”

The Miller family likes to be as active in their home church, New Vision in Murfreesboro
Tennessee. “We’re gone a lot though, so when we walk into the church we get visitors’ cards,”
laughs Randy.

Sherri adds, “Our kids go constantly. But we’re in and out so much it’s hard to be
plugged in all the time, but we do have a great support system.”

“We go on Wednesday nights and I play with the worship team for the youth,” says
Randy. “There will probably be about 600 kids there that we’re ministering to on Wednesday
nights. We just enjoy it, we love our church.”

For Randy and Sherri, remaining involved in their home church is only a part of their
active spiritual life. They know that keeping their relationship fresh with the Lord through prayer
and teaching as well, keeps their own relationship strong. “Sherri and I pray together and that’s
imperative to a ministry; to keep in contact with the Father, the One that you’re working for, and
to know His voice,” says Randy. “I don’t listen to a lot of music on the radio, I listen to pastors.
One guy that I really love is Carl Gallops. He’s a pastor down in Milton Florida, really great
friend of mine and I love to hear him speak. I love T.D. Jakes as well.”

“We’ll be almost asleep, flipping through TV channels and we’ll come across Swaggart
Ministries,” says Sherri. “I love their music and worship, I just feel an anointing out of that a lot.
I also really enjoy our pastor from New Vision, Pastor Brady Cooper. He’s an incredible speaker,
gifted, and throws in a lot of humor. A lot of times when a pastor is speaking it’s hard to stay
focused. Pastor Cooper keeps you really interested in what he has to say and with humor gets
you to hear the meat of what he’s bringing in his message. We also hear a lot of great speakers in
the local churches where we go and sing. I get so tickled because there are certain places I love
to go back to sing, just to hear the pastor speak on Sunday mornings. That means a lot. It feeds
us.”

Explaining the importance of a personal prayer life, Randy reveals, “Everything that I’ve
learned to play has been because of prayer and fasting. You have to put legs on those prayers
and work, but when I started out trying to learn how to play harmonica which was my first
instrument, I just couldn’t get it. So I said, ‘I’m getting really serious.’ I got down on my face
before God and said, ‘I’m going on a fast here God and I want You to help me learn to play this
thing.’ I started missing those meals and praying every day and bugging everybody in the house
trying to practice. Eventually it came, as well as all the other things I’ve learned to play.”

“I didn’t start singing until I was 19 and went from there to hearing parts and it was all
because of prayer,” continues Randy. “Individually, you have to stay in constant contact with the
Father because you know His Voice when you’re talking to Him all the time. It’s like I could call
my buddy in Kansas once a year, and if he calls me maybe one time out of the year, when I pick

up the phone if I don’t see his number pop up on the screen, chances are I don’t know who it is.
But if I talk to him every day, when he’d call all he’d have to say is ‘Hey buddy’ and I would
know his voice.”

“That’s the same thing with God. If we stay in constant contact with Him, we’re going to
know His Voice; we’re going to know what He’s saying, how He’s leading us and guiding us.”

As Randy and Sherri continue to preach and pray and sing and laugh, the Millers are
reaching many with the Word of God. Randy says, “There’s still evangelism in us right now. He
told us in His Word to go into the highways and hedges.” He pauses. “Gracious, I’ve been on the
highways a long time! I told someone the other day, I’m ready to get in the hedges and be still
for a little while.”

It doesn’t look like Randy and Sherri Miller are planning to slow down any time soon.
As they continue to reach audiences with laughter, lyrics and love, the Millers are moving in the
path God has laid out for them. “God is speaking to us that time is short; there’s a harvest out
there and we need to continue to press on,” Randy continues. “We have just a narrow window to
tell people about Christ’s love. They have a Savior that loves them and if they don’t know Him,
they need to hear that today is the day of salvation for them and they can know Him.”

For more on Randy and Sherri Miller please visit:

http://www.randyandsherrimiller.com/
See them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/randysherrimiller?fref=ts

Thanks to our contributors:
Dusty Wells http://www.facebook.com/dusty.wells.50/
Johnathan Bond http://www.youngharmony.com/