John R. Miller invited Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis to join him during Miller’s second appearance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, where they performed the guitar-led song “Steering Wheel Drums” from Miller’s new album, The Great Unknowing. The collaboration mattered because it brought an alternative-rock guitarist onto one of country music’s most traditional stages, highlighting Mascis’s influence on folk and Americana musicians.

It was Mascis’s first appearance at the Opry, and Miller described seeing him perform there as “cool and surreal”, calling him one of his guitar heroes. Miller also played “Tollbooth”, and the pair later performed an impromptu set at East Nashville record-shop bar Vinyl Tap; Miller will tour through the autumn, including AmericanaFest 2026.