Songs for Dad

Temple musician Lilly Milford plans tribute release in memory of her father

May 19, 2023

Temple singer/songwriter Lilly Milford is busy performing up and down the I-35 corridor from San Antonio and Seguin to Temple and Belton. She is currently working on a song about her life, Miss Dismissive, that she plans to record as part of a tribute to her father. That’s the historic Dr. Arthur Scott log cabin in the background. David Stone photos

DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE

Lilly Milford loves music. She always has.

As a 5-year-old living in Houston, little Lilly would write songs, and some of them were pretty good.

“My dad was in a band, and he would play one of my songs,” she said Friday with a grin. “It was called Little Children, and he would call me up on stage to sing it with him. I think I started singing as soon as I could speak.”

Lilly was exposed to a variety of music growing up.

“Yeah, Mom played a lot of music when I was a kid,” she said, “I listened to everything — Joe Cocker, George Harrison, Aretha Franklin. I loved it all, but Joe Cocker was probably my favorite.”

Lilly moved to Temple in 2008 from Crockett, and soon she was performing solo on her acoustic guitar. She worked for an online inventory company by day and wrote songs and played at night, and her music took her places — literally.

“I’ve played everywhere,” she said. “California, Oklahoma, Florida and a lot of places here in Texas.”

Music aficionados in Central Texas likely have caught Lilly live at venues such as O’Briens Irish Pub and Barrow Brewing. She also makes a circuit of nightspots in San Antonio, Seguin, Round Rock, San Marcos and New Braunfels.

“I’m kind of playing everywhere,” she said with a laugh. “I’m pretty much up and down the I-35 corridor. I’m mostly doing solo shows, but I perform with my friend Wes Perryman from time to time.”

Wes and Lilly were members of the popular Lilly & The Implements, a band formed in 2019. Wes played guitar and Lilly handled guitar and vocal duties, and the band recorded a self-titled album. It can be found on most streaming platforms.

“The band split a while back, but Wes and I are still doing some shows together,” Lilly said.

Lilly also has teamed with Temple’s Frank “Frankie G” Grocholski, lead guitarist for New Orleans-based Cowboy Mouth. Cowboy Mouth is best known for the mega hit Jenny Says.

“I’d love to do more with Frankie — he’s a phenomenal guitarist,” she said. “He keeps pretty busy with Cowboy Mouth, but we did play The Shed in Salado together. It was a lot of fun.”

Lilly said she will be playing Fire Street Pizza in Belton this summer, a place where she has fond memories of a hungry German shepherd.

“I had this rescue dog with me, and kids at Fire Street kept feeding him slices of pizza,” she said, laughing. “He loved it — I bet he ate five entire pizzas that night.”

Lilly still thinks about those early days of singing with her dad, the late Wayne Milford. And, to honor those memories, she plans to release a tribute of three songs.

“It’s not enough for an album, so I’m calling it a tribute,” she explained. “It will include the song we used to sing — Little Children — play a song my dad wrote. After his passing, I wrote Golden Line, which is about his life.”

“Right now, I’m just playing for rent — to survive,” she said. “I would love to go into a studio and record my songs — and Dad’s songs — but I just don’t have the money just yet. My life got complicated.”

“So, right now, I’m writing songs and performing. I’m working on a song I call Miss Dismissive, which is a story about my life.”

“I’ve written a lot of songs — maybe 60,” she said. “I hope to record a lot of them, but right now I just want to honor my dad.”