Idol Chatter & Voice Views

If Megan Miller looked familiar when she showed up on the conclusion of American Idol’s Austin auditions Thursday night, there’s a good reason.

Megan was also a featured auditioner in Season 12.

Megan Miller during the Austin auditions for Season 13 of American Idol.

Why the crutches? Well, she’d just broken her leg in a car accident and was scheduled for surgery, but said she wasn’t going to let that mishap screw up her chances of going to Hollywood.

It didn’t. The judges were impressed, though Megan failed to make it to the Top 40.

In Austin, Megan sang Carrie Underwood’s “Last Name.” And while Harry Connick Jr. expressed concern about Megan’s ability to belt out big notes continuously without straining her voice, all the judges complimented her on her raspy tone.

And so Megan is off to Hollywood again.

“Last year, I was actually cut in the first round, and that was slightly depressing,” Megan says in her Road to Hollywood video. “I’ve worked all year trying to get better so that doesn’t happen again.”

“I know that I wasn’t born with the gift of singing for nothing,” the 23-year-old from Ethel, La., adds. “I won’t stop at anything until I live out my purpose — to be in music full time.”

In addition to the rasp, Megan thinks the emotion in her voice helps set her apart.

And, hey, she’s also got a sense of humor. She was in another accident earlier this week and sent out a Tweet about it, ending with the hashtag: #atleastitsnotmyleg.

She has been performing as frontwoman for the Megan Miller Band. According to their Facebook page, the five members “deliver the soulful sounds of all the best covers from the 50’s to today’s hits.”

Megan also released a single in November called “Only Me and U” that’s available on iTunes. You can check it out below along with some other music from Megan or her band. And you can follow Megan on Twitter @MeganMillMusic.

The second song below is available as a free download here.

“Only Me and U”

“I Can See the Sunrise” by Matthew Rich

“At Last” at Baton Rouge Idol competition

“Sweet Child of Mine” with Megan Miller Band

To hear more, head to the band’s YouTube’s channel.