Lunch with Larry: Zach Miller

During his hospital stay, Miller was so bored that he began writing country music songs to pass time and mentally escape from his medical ordeal. He had always loved music and played guitar for fun while in college.

“When I was in the hospital, I was just there for too long and I needed something to do,” Miller said. “You can only play so many Xbox games or watch so many movies. I think I watched ‘Moana’ in the hospital like nightly. I don’t know why, that was just the one that was on.”

After leaving the hospital, Miller learned how to play piano. He continued to write songs and performed them for his wife, Kristen, and their three children. He was mulling whether to pursue a music career but wasn’t convinced to do so until Cutler stopped at his home in Nebraska while driving from Nashville to Montana.

“He asked what I’d been doing, and I said, ‘Writing songs,’ and he’s like, ‘What?’ He had no idea,” Miller said. “So I played a couple for him and he’s like, ‘You should probably do that.'”

In May 2021, Miller released his first single, “How Ya Like Us Now,” an upbeat song that was inspired by those in his small town in Nebraska who doubted he would ever reach the NFL. His next two songs were titled “I was Hoping” and “Torn Up.”

Miller’s first two live performances came in 2021 at the Good Life Sports Bar and Grill near his home in Omaha. He has since opened for national acts such as the Eli Young Band, Brantley Gilbert, Chase Rice, Parker McCollum, Lanco, David Nail and Miller’s close friend, Dermot Kennedy, at Northerly Island, which is located, coincidentally, near Soldier Field.

Miller was accustomed to performing in front of large football crowds, but being alone on a stage was daunting for him at first.

“I was somewhat nervous to start,” Miller said. “That was an intimidating thing because you play football in front of 80,000 or whatever and you’ve got a helmet and shoulder pads on, you’ve got teammates out there. You go on stage, it’s just you and a guitar and a microphone or a piano and the light and you’re telling stories of the life that you’re living, so it’s a vulnerable position and I worried about it way too much early on. Now it’s just like I’m going to go and if we connect and we have a good connection through this music thing, then I’m more than happy to be up there. And if we don’t, then I’m still happy because I love it.”

With his two most recent singles, “Die Loving You” and “One…