[2] Miller was raised in the Washington, D.C. area, and began playing drums at the age of 10, studying with Walter Salb.

[3] 5 years after graduating from West Virginia University,[2] she moved to New York City to study with Michael Carvin and Lenny White, and began her career as a freelance drummer.

Her work with bands have included Honey Ear Trio with Rene Hart and Erik Lawrence, Holler and Bam with Toshi Reagon, and her own band, Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom, composed of Todd Sickafoose, Marty Ehrlich, and Dan Tepfer.

[4] Miller has performed with songwriting vocalists Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, and Erin McKeown, and toured with avant-garde saxophonist Marty Ehrlich, organist Doctor Lonnie Smith and folk-rock singer Brandi Carlile.

[6] In 2013, she contributed an essay to The Huffington Post describing her coming out process and her experiences as a female, lesbian, and feminist in the male-dominated jazz world.