Local Musician Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple

Good things have been going on for Houstonian Kristine Mills. Every time you see her she's running one hundred miles a minute, working harder than most and creating great success because of it all.

Recently she was in New York performing at the Metropolitan Room with Tommy "TJ" James, arranger, conductor and pianist of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, but before she went in a meeting with DISH she was vowing she was going to enter and win the coveted New York City Tudor Park Songwriting Contest...and now she's a semi-finalist. No surprise when you listen to her perform. Her passion in her words, sultry voice and enthusiasm draw you in. It's all a winning combination.

Her albums have been raved about in Jazz Magazine, Review in The Borderland (Musicwatch Column) in the UK, All About Jazz.com, and the Houston Press among a list of very impressive others. The 4th one is on its way, but not in the usual way. "As Yet Untitled" has been selected as a project funded by a Houston ArtsAlliance (HAA) Individual Arts Grant for an established artist.She will resume recording late summer and hope to release in February 2013.

But that's not all for this powerhouse, in a recent collaboration with local documentary film maker, Michel Muylle Kristine wrote, produced and performed the soundtrack for his film"Collector's Waltz" which was just in the Houston WorldFest Competition. Turns out, the doc "Collectors Waltz" won a Houston WorldFest Festival REMI award! They are planning to debut the film this fall and will release the soundtrack in conjunction with the premiere as well.

Kristine isn't just a singer/songwriter who apparently collaborates with the greatest of the great, she is also a wife, a mother and a humanitarian. She donates her time to numerous organization and even proceeds to one of her songs. On May 22, 2012 Mills will release her live, March 28, 2012 "The Front Row" radio performance of the debut of "Silhouette"exclusively on iTunes. The KUFH/KUHA "The Front Row" has graciously given Mills the right to donate this recording of "Silhouette" to the Rose Ribbon Foundation. All the sales of the download of this live version of the song will go to the Rose Ribbon Foundation. "Silhouette"was written to celebrate Holly Harwood Skolkin's, Cindi Rose's younger sister, courageous 15-year fight with stage 4 breast cancer. Cindi and her husband, Dr. Franklin Rose started the Rose Ribbon Foundation to provide reconstruction to uninsured breast cancer patents.

So head on up to NYC in June where she will perform her original song, "Patch of Green" during the Wed. June 20th New York City Tudor Park Concert as a SEMI-Finalist of the NYC Tudor Park Songwriting Contest. Then catch her again at the legendary Metropolitan Room with pianist Tommy "TJ" James, Dave Dunaway, bass and Jacob Melchior on drums on Wed. June 27 at 9:30 pm!

Or go to MKT Jazz Brunch this Sunday. You'll be in heaven either way.

Posted on Friday, April 20, 2012 at 10:35AM by