Frank Mills will share love of Christmas during Dec. 7 concert
Frank Mills considers his upcoming concert tour through Western Canada a special opportunity to share some intimate piano music with his true fans.
Mills will be on stage at the Sky Centre on December 7 for a 2 p.m. matinee concert. Swift Current is the last of five Saskatchewan dates on a modest 18-city Western Canadian tour which begins tonight in Winker, MB.
He recently resumed touring after a decade long hiatus, and he admittedly enjoys performing in smaller to medium size venues because of the feeling of intimacy his music has with the audience.
"That part of it is really fun for me because now that I'm out on my own and I'm basically alone completely for the whole show with the piano - it's my only friend out there. It's a chance to be a bit more open with people."
"I enjoy it. You're almost chatting with the people in the first few rows."
Mills was coaxed out of a near decade long touring retirement to go on the road with the incomparable late great Rita MacNeil. He and MacNeil did a Christmas season tour with a full band, plus they teamed up on the seasonal release The Spirit of Christmas in 2010.
"It's that time of year, and I love Christmas songs. The Huron Carol is probably my favourite of all. I do play that, and I play some of the traditional ones."
However, this
show returns him to his touring roots of getting behind the piano to entertain. He points out there is not a lot of home-spun entertainment out there for his mature audience.
"I think people basically love piano music," Mills said. "And I do two segments in my show now that I didn't do years ago. I just play songs that you would hear if you stopped by and had a beer and you wanted me to play some songs."
The other segment of the performance is a medley of pop/rock standards plus a selection of movie songs.
"I've always enjoyed playing the top 40," he admitted. "So it's become a major part of my show. The audience loves it."
Mills reached the top of the music charts in 26 countries with his international hit Music Box Dancer, and he has not slowed down in recent years despite boasting over four decades as a professional musician. In the past few years he released a book "My Travels with Morley", and in 2013 he released "Piano Fun with Frank Mills" a collection of two CD's - one containing a full symphony performance of his hits, the other just the symphony so budding pianists can take centre stage.
"I always thought that the greatest thrill I ever had in music was playing with an orchestra. It's something that very few people can afford," he said of his musical project. In addition to the CDs, Piano Fun with Frank Mills contains sheet music of the 12 songs on the recording.
And, of course, the Dec. 7 concert will feature his mega hit Music Box Dancer.
"If I didn't play Music Box Dancer I'd probably be stampeded," he laughed.
And while Music Box Dancer was a global hit in the 70s, and it is still recorded and reinterpreted by artists today, his original version of the song was considerably different. Mills wrote Music Box Dancer in the key of C sharp, but because of a fast playing turntable it fooled his ear and he thought it was written in C sharp.
"As my publisher said 'we can't put this out in C sharp, nobody will be able to play it!' So we did change it, and the rest was history. It sold millions of copies."
The Frank Mills: An Intimate Afternoon concert is an extra performance scheduled through the Swift Current Allied Arts Council, but it is not a part of the Stars for Saskatchewan series.
The afternoon concert will feature a selection of Mills’ time honoured hits including Peter Piper, Love Me, Love Me, Love and The Happy Song, alongside selections from his two seasonal CD’s.
Advance tickets are available at the Living Sky