Miller - Contributed

André Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

It is not good enough that Hugh Miller is a member of the gospel group Perfect Love; he now wants to stand at the fore, running his own show. Miller was also a back-up singer in last year's Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Gospel Song Competition.

"Outside Perfect Love, I want to be a solo artiste. This will give me the publicity I need. I see this as a big stepping stone," Miller said.

His song in the competition is Blessed Is The Man. Miller, while reading the scriptures one day, was led to Psalm 139. Words like "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me ... You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar ... You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways" remained on Miller's mind as he picked up his pen and paper and began to write.

Loves the lord

It was not his intention to enter the competition, but he began humming a tune to the words he came up with. Those words, he thinks, will help to win the competition. And even if he does not win, Miller is expecting nothing less than a third-place finish.

"There is nothing more to me than loving the Lord," says Hugh Miller.

A customer service representative by profession, he said his hobbies include singing, songwriting and rearranging things. Apart from winning the competition, giving his solo career a boost, it is also an opportunity to "take the message to the world to persons of all ages, states and colour".

Sees himself ministering

Miller's song is also inspired by personal experience when the troubles of the world were in his shoulders. With his utility bills and rent piling up, it seemed his only way out was to pour what he was going through to his creator. In years to come, he sees himself ministering to people through his voice, healing and transforming millions.

Miller is taking the time to enjoy the fellowship with the other contestants. While he and his colleagues are in the competition for a win, he said off the stage their bond is that of a family unit.

They all recognise the need for prayer and so they always manage to assemble when they are together. There has been much love for him in whichever town the JCDC tour takes him. Such is the love that he can already taste victory.

He worships at the Family Church on the Rock in St. Andrew.