Don Mills

Don Mills in Concert

Don Mills was born and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in the early 70's, although, he did not tap into his musical abilities until the mid 80's when his family moved to Springfield, Missouri during his freshman year of high school. There he learned to appreciate music through choral activities and further discovered his baritone voice and love for music with help from choral director Brad Barrett. He continued to excel in his vocal endeavors and eventually became the #1 bass vocalist, at a high school level, in the state of Missouri. From there, Don received a full vocal scholarship to Arkansas State University. But, after a year of hitting the books, he discovered that college life was not for him. Don moved back to the Chicago area where he met up with guitar teacher and blues man, Bob "Universal Slim" Rader, who taught him about live rock-n-roll, blues and playing in a band. After messing around for 6 months in side projects, Don met Bill Pitts in the summer of '93 after responding to an ad at the same Streamwood music store that he met Slim. By this time, Don was playing with drummer Scott Luce, and he asked Scott if he would join up with Bill and himself. Scott was also pushing Don to play bass guitar while singing lead vocals. With inspiration by Geddy Lee of Rush and Les Claypool of Primus, and a little practice, the band Blue Flannel was formed. After the first gig, the band changed it's name to Wave Estate, a name found in a lyrical inspiration by Scott Luce. After Scott left the band and numerous drummer problems, Don and Bill found Brian Dameron in the fall of '95. Brian was definitely the missing link that they had been looking for. After a year of writing songs and playing out together, the band is nearly ready to release their first album. A fantasy, for Don that has finally come true.