Bio
Tom Mills is a singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist from Cape Breton who has been involved in the local music scene for over 30+ years.
He is actively writing, recording, and playing various pubs, private shows, and festivals around the Maritimes and has just released a self-titled open-tuning instrumental Celtic Style CD for guitar in 2017 entitled “Full Strings Ahead“.
Tom played in a dozen or more cover bands throughout the 80’s and 90’s and began writing original material and recording around 2007 with a band called The Mizzen Men “Folk Songs & Sea Shanties”. Songs like “Steel Winds” and “That Maritime Song” were recorded on that project and garnished a fair amount of airplay on local radio stations in Cape Breton.
Tom followed that up with a new recording in 2012 “Crossin That Bridge” with his roots band Wills Addiction (http://willsaddiction.com/our-music) featuring such original songs as “The Old Wishing Well”, “The Giant Fiddle”, and “Crossin That Bridge”.
One song on the album “I Like Girls” was featured in the soundtrack for a local Comedy Horror Flick “The Legend of the Psychotic Forest Ranger”. With hard driving rock riffs and satirical lyrics that poke fun at the 80’s, the movie was written and directed by Brad Mills (Bradmills.ca) and filmed by his sister Jacquelyn Mills (Jacquelynmills.ca), both born and raised in Cape Breton (Tom’s children).
Most recently, Tom was asked to re-record his song “Steel Winds” for the “Songs of Steel, Coal, & Protest” album project released in 2016 by Richard MacKinnon, the project coordinator and also a CBU professor.
This album is a collaboration between Richard MacKinnon and Cape Breton musicians to record and promote songs of steel, mining and protest songs of the region (Cape Breton) – http://protestsongs.ca/volume-2
Favorite Artists:
- Tommy Emmanuel
- Tony McManus
- Erik Mongrain
- Casper Esmann
- Dylan Ryche
- Don Ross
- Tony Rice
- Tim O’Brien
- Stan Rogers
- Dave Gunning
- John Allan Cameron
Previous Bookings
A Few of the Places where this Cape Breton guitar player, Tom Mills, has play in recent years are as follows:
- Stan Rogers Folk Festival
- Kempt Shore Acoustic Festival
- CCMAs in Saint John NB 2006
- Market Square Festival Festival Saint John NB
- Louisbourg Playhouse
- Louisbourg Crabfest
- Cape Breton Bikefest
- Northside Exhibition
- Highland Village Festival in Iona
- Cabot Trail Acoustic Festival
- Acoustic Roots Festival Marion Bridge Cape Breton
- Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival
- Tommy Horne Memorial Antique Car Show (Two Rivers Wildlife Park)
- Boisdale Firehall (opened for Dave Gunning in 2012)
- Autism Rocks Festival
- Kiju’s Restaurant Membertou Cape Breton
- The Dobson Yacht Club
- The Steel City Sydney NS
- Daniels in Sydney NS
- Curling Club Bonspiel Sydney NS
- Split Crow
- Mug n’ Anchor Mahone Bay
- Old Triangle Sydney
- Old Triangle Moncton
- Governor’s Pub
- Crown n’ Moose Pub
- Main Event Glace Bay
- Rack n’ Roll New Waterford
- Sydney Mines Firehall
- Northside Yacht Club
- Coastal Waters Ingonish
- Baddeck Legion
- Thirsty Hiker Pub Ingonish
- Doryman Pub & Grill Cheticamp
..and many more home concerts, festivals, and private events throughout the Maritimes!
