James Glover / Star staff Michael Miller, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for Blue Stew, died in his sleep Tuesday. He regularly played at Hi-Cees BBQ Cafe for more than a decade.

Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Michael Paul Miller of the Ventura blues band Blue Stew is dead at the age of 56. Miller died in his sleep in his Oxnard home Tuesday. The Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of Miller's death cannot be determined until lab tests are complete, which could take four to six months.

"I played with him Sunday, and he was brilliant as usual," said Blue Stew band member Steve White, 53, of Ventura. "He seemed to be in pretty good spirits. There was no indication of anything out of the ordinary. It was a complete shock to me."

"When I said goodbye Sunday, I really didn't think it was goodbye," said band mate Kirk Maxson, 55.

For more than a decade, Blue Stew has played every other Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Hi-Cees BBQ Cafe at Ventura Harbor.

"It's a huge loss. I mean, every time I start to think about it, it hurts my soul. I just well up," said Blue Stew drummer Randy Kizer, 57, adding: "It's been quite a year."

Blue Stew had just hit a high note Feb. 1 and 2 when the band traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to compete in the 24th annual International Blues Challenge. Blue Stew landed a spot in the contest after winning the IBC regional competition in Santa Barbara on Oct. 27, 2007.

"I was real pleased for Mike in particular," Kizer said. "Because we were playing all of his songs."

Blue Stew didn't win, but "we came really close," Kizer said.

During an interview with The Star a week before the competition, Miller was asked if he thought Blue Stew would win.

"I have to stick with the pessimist that I am," Miller joked. "They're not going to give it (the prize) to a bunch of old farts like us. They're out to find the next big thing to pass the torch along."

Born in Compton, Miller got into music in the sixth grade when he began taking clarinet lessons.

"A friend of mine played trumpet, and he had girls all around him," Miller said during an interview in January. "I think because they were drawn to the shiny thing."

He graduated from Oxnard High School in 1970, and the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood in 1981.

It was during the 1970s that White first met Miller.

"He was the first real musician I really knew," White said. "He was playing in a band that used to practice down the street from me. I used to go and listen, and I was always real impressed with Mike. We started jamming on the side for fun, even though he was light years ahead of me and my friends."

Miller spent years traveling around the U.S. with various bands. He met his wife, Julie Oppegaard, in a small nightclub in Minnesota. They were married on Jan. 22, 1983.

"The night I met him, I saw his tender soul," Oppegaard said.

Miller died on Oppegaard's 50th birthday. Their sleep patterns were different because of Miller's schedule, so Miller and Oppegaard never actually saw each other on Tuesday.

"On the day before my birthday, he said, You look so young. No matter how old you get, you will never be older than 49,' " Oppegaard said. "He never saw me 50."

Oppegaard said Miller had Tourette's syndrome, a genetic disease with symptoms including vocal and motor tics, attention deficit disorder and severe depression. Miller was on many medications, she said.

"He was seeing doctors a lot on a regular basis, but this was very unexpected," Oppegaard said.

On the day of his death, Oppegaard found a notepad with what could have been the last words her husband ever wrote. They were:

"So many rivers to cross; Just one more river to cross."

"They were probably song lyrics," White said. "He was always writing songs."

Oppegaard agreed that they were most likely song lyrics.

Kizer said the show will go on as scheduled Sunday with veteran guitarist/vocalist Jerry Pugh sitting in for Miller. The show will be a tribute to Miller, Kizer said.

"I know it sounds trite, but the whole show must go on' thing is pretty ingrained in all of us," White said. "Mike would certainly feel the same way."

Kizer said he believes his band mate and friend left too soon, with too much music still inside him.

"You hear the cliche he was one-of-a-kind' and they broke the mold,'" Kizer said. "With Mikey, that was really true."

Besides Oppegaard, Miller leaves behind a son, Justin Michael Miller, 23, also of Oxnard. He is also survived by his mother, Yvonne Carr of Oxnard; and sister, Joelle Brooks of Tucson, Ariz. His father, Paul, died on New Year's Day this year and his sister, Becky, who struggled with homelessness, died years ago at the age of 37, Oppegaard said.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura. A reception will follow at the Hi-Cees Cafe, 1591 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura. Hear Miller's music at http://www.bluestew.com.