X Slide

Music manby Levi GilbertImagine Imagine your wildest dream Now imagine you 8217 re actually keep it It 8217 s happening for Cale Mills The 25 year old Conway resident is traveling the country writing and playing music with his friend Kris Allen 8220 I think the instant when it became a real dream 8221 Mills said 8220 It really happened twice for me The first time I was watching VH1 8217 s Top 100 bands It got to The Beatles at No 1 and it was playing through their music You could tell how often it had impacted people At that moment I knew that 8217 s what I wanted to do 8220 Then five to six days ago God really turned m

life around through some hard circumstances Music was an issue for me I was growing back towards God and also throwing myself into music 8221 Mills and Allen have been playing music together for four years The duo first met musically through Chi Alpha at the University of Central Arkansas A twelvemonth ago they started writing and recording together Then this small thing called American Idol happened Mills and Allen tried out together with Kris 8217 brother Daniel but Kris was the sole one to walk through all the rounds of auditions and the remainder is history When Allen came second to Little Shake in July for the Idols Live Tour he talked to Mills near the opening of joining his band 8220 I flew out to Los Angeles around early October 8221 Mills said 8220 I spent two weeks out there going through the audition process It was a pretty crazy time being with so many really good musicians I would go in as a guitarist and be paired up with a drummer and bassist and we would meet the same Muse or Led Zeppelin song over and over again 8221 Mills initially auditioned as a guitarist but he eventually auditioned as a pianist too to establish his versatility 8220 I wasn 8217 t really too freaked out about it 8221 Mills said 8220 I scarcely kept thinking that whatever happens happens I was focussed on just playing practicing being myself and having fun I 8217 m really thankful to get this opportunity I had a lot of people praying for me back home 8221 Mills isn 8217 t just in Allen 8217 s band He also received co writing credit for a song 8211 8220 Is It Over 8221 8211 on Allen 8217 s debut album 8220 That was a peculiar deal 8221 Mills said 8220 We had written a lot of music together before Idol and our destination was to write some songs together for the album It was difficult though because of his schedule I had scripted the choir to 8216 Is It Over 8217 but I had no verses One day Kris was working with Mike Elizondo who produced a lot of the album Kris was playing him a verse he had come up with but he had no chorus It was the same key as my chorus Kris put them together and the producer loved it 8220 Having a strain on the album is a huge blessing for me It 8217 s first and first what I wish to do 8211 write songs Our long term end is to have albums that are completely written by the two of us because people can relate to that 8221 For the preceding few months Mills has toured the east coast with Allen playing on The Tonight Show with Conan O 8217 Brien and Live with Regis and Kelly 8220 Sometimes we 8217 ll grab each other and be like 8216 Is this really happening 8217 8221 Mills said 8220 It is a dream come true but at the same time we realize that our lives can 8217 t be centered on it People take a glitz and glammer idea of it but we 8217 re still just living If you don 8217 t have friends family and a thoroughly church around you none of it is truly leaving to matter 8220 The inflammation is in the long run 8211 not so much about being on Conan or stuff like that We 8217 re excited about being able to give the better music that we can make Putting out really great music that will be around for a long time and move people is our goal All that early material is fun but it 8217 s just icing 8221 Mills isn 8217 t being seduced by the brilliant lights of the big cities He 8217 s still got a particular office in his heart for Conway and the 501 8220 The scene here is beautiful 8221 Mills said 8220 If you get up here you might not value it When you leave you get it After a week in LA I get home and need to hug a tree 8220 I grew up loving dinosaurs and my girlfriend Katy Barber gave me this little orange dinosaur figurine a long time ago I hold it with me when I 8217 m on the road and I put it on my keyboard when I play You could see it on the Conan and Good Morning America performances It calms me downcast and helps me remember home 8220 I ever had this dream I ever thought it was a possibility that something great could happen I 8217 ve always believed that God has a large life planned for me however it plays out I 8217 m a dreamer 8221 Source http www 501lifemag com index php option com content amp task view amp id 414 amp Itemid 12