Kate Mills Debut Album

Bruce Von Stiers

Kate Mills has a musical style that some say harkens back to the Laurel Canyon era of music that spawned the careers of great artists such as Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt. A bit folk, a bit rock and a bit country, Kate's music has a distinct and enjoyable vibe to it.

Kate is just about to release her first full length album. The title of the album is Each Bittersweet Drop. The album contains nine songs and has a play time of thirty-four minutes.

Kate's bio tells about her performing in musical theater as a child alongside talents such as Debbie Gibson. And then during her college years, Kate helped found the band Drive Thru Parking. Leaving that band to begin a solo career, Kate also moved to New York and became immersed in the music scene there. Along the way Kate has garnered a degree in social work, did work in that field, had some serious health issues that she bounced back from, quit work to devote her time and energies into her music and married the guy who'd become her artistic partner.

The album was produced and engineered by Joseph Anthony Secchiaroli. He is one of the founding members of the rock band, The Reign of Kindo, sometimes known as just Kindo. Aside from producing this album, he also played bass and did backing vocals on it.

Other members of Kindo played on the album. Steven Padin did the drums on the album. He's also played drums for Jessie James. Another musician who's played in Kindo and for Jessie James is Rocco DellaNeve. He plays the keys, synth, piano and organ on this album. Along with his stint as tour manager for Kindo, Dave Goodison took time to play electric guitar on the album. Rodney Flood does percussion and backing vocals for Kindo. He lends his voice for backing vocals on this album. And Jeremy Thompson has many musical credits under his belt. He plays both acoustic and electric guitar on the album, along with the mandolin, upright bass and pedal steel.

Beth DeMichele is an actor, dancer and vocalist based in New York City. She's acted in a music video for Kindo. Beth provides backing vocals for the album. Tom DeMichele, besides being Beth's husband, was in the first international tour of Beauty and The Beast and guest starred on Madam Secretary. Tom also provides backing vocals on the album.

Fall Apart has some great country styled music in it. It has a nice, toe tapping beat. Kate's vocals are terrific in a song that tells about hiding away the feelings of thinking that her life is falling apart.

Honest Mistakes is a bit mellower but still with a touch of country flavor. It's about trying to stay the course so she doesn't make the same mistakes in life she'd made before.

What Did You Think? has a kind of bluesy tone mixed with a pop / rock backbeat. It is about her calling him out on his cheating.

I think that my favorite song on the album is Outrun The Night. It has a midrange beat for most of the song. But then the chorus moves things into a sort of slick country / rock tone that kicks it. There are a couple of extra cool spots. One has some terrific piano behind mellow vocals and the other is a short rock guitar bit. Kate sings about not running away from your demons.

No Yellow Brick Road has fluid vocals. It has a definite country tone to it.

Cold Spring has an alt folk / Americana sound. It is a heart tugging song about someone whose addiction got the better of them and ended their life.

Lights Fade is a beautiful love ballad.

Love leaving out the door is endearing in the ballad, No Good At Goodbyes.

The final song on the album is Turn To Me. It is another beautiful love ballad.

Kate lists Diane Birch, Sara Bareilles and Eva Cassidy as a few of the artists who have influenced her. Although those, and other artists, may have helped Kate shape her music, her style seems pretty much her own. Kate provides fluid vocals on the album, uplifting in some places, nearly heartbreaking in others.

Kate Mills may not be very well known at this point. But if this album is any indication, she will, in the not too distant future, be listed on someone else's album as having influenced their music.

Kate has already released a couple of singles from Each Bittersweet Drop. But the full album is set to be released in early March, 2020.

To learn more about Kate Mills, visit her official web site at www.katemillsmusic.com She also has a Facebook music page you can visit at https://www.facebook.com/katemillsmusic/

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© 2020 Bruce E Von Stiers