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Songs and Samples
Glory Bound (Song to Gordon)
Inside Out Lookin’ In
River of Time
New Age Boy
Where is My Child Tonight
By Any Other Name
Don’t Lay Me Down
Where’s the Passion
Sausalito in the Summertime
Alexandra the Great
About Steve Dan Mills
Steve Dan Mills grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin listening to 50's and 60's rock 'n roll. From the age of ten, he was taking the bus downtown to attend the Allen Freed Rock and Roll shows at the Riverside Theatre. He broke his musical teeth on the live performances of Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincet, Conway Twitty, Fats Domino and many more.
Mills played drums and sang in a Buddy Holly-Ritchie Valens-Ventures etc. cover band while in high school. After graduating from high school he migrated to conservative Columbia, South Carolina where he became the co-founder, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of a radical but successful rock band known as Speed Limit 35. He went on to play with the Calvary Blues Band and eventually found himself playing solo gigs in South Florida where he became serious about songwriting.
In the late 70's Mills moved to Nashville where he continued to write songs and beat the streets of Music Row. After five years in Nashville, he landed a songwriting deal with the legendary Combine Music Group. While at Combine, Mills's song Dream On Texas Ladies became a hit for Rex Allen Jr.
He went on to score album cuts by John Michael Montgomery, Neal Coty, Mel MacDaniel and others. He also landed a cut on the Maverick movie soundtrack album and appeared in the movie Living Proof with Richard Thomas.
In the early 90's, Mills began to digress from the constraints of the Nashville mainstream and started to write straight from his own heartfelt experience and began playing Nashville clubs as a solo artist. He introduced his first CD from the Mainstage of the Kerrville Folk Festival for which he received a standing ovation. He newest release, Inside Out Lookin' In, has received an outstanding initial response.
News and Reviews
This CD's title tune is a haunting "outsider" song that explores complex emotions and finds little peace. I think it will resonate especially with Nashville's large recovery community. In addition to being a sterling writer and vocalist, Mills proves himself to be a brilliant producer with this gorgeous swirl of guitars and fiddle. Very praiseworthy work.
- Robert K. Oermann
Music Row Magazine
Steve Dan Mills
"Remembering Young Stephen"
The young Stephen referred to in the title of this album is Steve Dan Mills. The song is a harrowing but ultimately inspiring tale of overcoming and reclaiming a lost, brutal childhood. "At last I'll forgive him for just being human and trying to outrun the wrath of his pain." Much like Bob Dylan sang thirty years ago, Mills longs to hear some chimes of freedom for the beaten, battered and bruised he sees all around him.
Soul stripping honesty runs throughout these songs. He makes no bones about exposing his own personal demons and levels a keen eye on the devils making mayhem in today's society. "Bootleg Hill" traces the effects of "white lightning" on an entire community. "Children In The War Zone" laments the battlefield that has replaced so many children's playground. Mills wastes no time summing up the cause: "Violence on the TV, violence in the press, violence on the homefront, violence in the sex. You get the picture. "Hillman's Song" mourns the suicide of a friend who "when he laughed he mostly cried...he walked out on his heart last night."
If this sounds like a pretty depressing affair...it's not. In less skilled hands, these topics would be reduced to bumper sticker depth, but Mills is a singer/poet who has obviously been through the abyss and lives to tell the tale.
-Neil FaganPerforming Songwriter Magazine CD Review