Steve Miller was born on October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Steve's family was very involved in music. His mother was a singer with jazz influences and his father was a pathologist very interested in the world of music. Dr. Miller was friends with many musicians, which greatly aided young Steve's musical development. One of his father's friends was Les Paul, who showed Steve some chords on a guitar at the age of five. Les Paul proved to be a very valuable mentor to Steve and became a good family friend. When Steve was seven his family moved to Dallas, where he met a different kind of artists who didn't usually visit Milwaukee. His father took him to see greats like Hank Williams, Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins. Steve was particularly drawn to T-Bone Walker, the father of Texas-style electric blues. This proved to be very influential in Steve's life, and is evident from the bluesy sound he exhibited in his guitar playing. In 1955, Steve Miller started his first band at the age of twelve, the Marksmen. This band consisted of guitarists James Burton and Bob Hayden, and acquired Barron Cass to play drums. Steve taught his older brother Buddy to play bass so they would have someone to accompany them to concerts. They played songs by Ray Charles and the Four Freshman. Steve was finally given the chance to show off his showmanship, spinning in splits or throwing his guitar behind his head mid-song. After graduating from high school, Steve moved to Madison, Wisconsin to go to college. At the University of Wisconsin he began his studies in literature. Here he assembled a group called the Ardells. Ben Sidran played keyboard and Steve convinced his friend Boz Scaggs to play rhythm guitar. The band achieved some success, but they grew tired of playing meaningless parties and other small-time gigs. Miller decided to study literature during his senior year at the University of Copenhagen. After returning to the United States he heard a concert by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. This caught his attention and he left for Chicago to enter the blues scene, at this point he was only six credits away from graduating. Once in Chicago he did session work for Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and Howlin' Wolf.