Eddie Miller discusses starting out as a musician.

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Eddie Miller discusses his leaving New Orleans.

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Eddie Miller discusses his return to New Orleans.

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Q: “What brought you then, out of New Orleans? Was it then a decision that you’ve gotta go on the road or something?”

A: Eddie Miller: “Well, it was during Depression, I say I had a young son and I had the best job in town and they were paying us half our salary and owing us the other half. And I couldn't get along and that's a funny thing, I admired the Ben Pollack Band, you know, through recordings, you know. Well, it was the only big band that ... well, swing was unknown and yeah, it was the only big band that did swing. You know, the rest of the bands were just strictly straight things, you know.”

Interviewer: “Dance bands.”

Eddie Miller: “Dance bands, yeah. So I had a cousin who I was pretty close to and he was pretty prosperous because he was a bootlegger. You know, he had the money. So he wanted to see me to make good, so he said, "Ed." He said, "Listen." He says, "Here's the money. Get your can out of New Orleans and go up to New York." And he'd like almost forced me to, you know. He said, "You've got to go up there." He said, "Don't worry about it if nothing happens. You can always come back. I've got the money to send to bring you back."