Artist Name: Kevin Mills
Website: www.kevinmillsusa.com
Album Title: “Kevin Mills II”

Song Titles:

1. This Old House
2. Angel Band
3. I Won’t Last A Day Without You
4. I’d Rather Have Jesus
5. Angels Watchin’ Over Me
6. There Is A Reason
7. How Deep The Father’s Love
8. Palm Of Your Hand
9. Hallelujah, I’m Ready
10. Everybody’s Reaching Out For Someone
11. You Are So Beautiful To Me
12. Look For The Silver Lining

Hailing from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, is soloist Kevin Mills.  The son of a traveling evangelist, Kevin grew up listening to Southern Gospel and Country Gospel music.  Kevin has done a good deal of radio work in Canada, and he recorded his first solo album in 2004.

“Kevin Mills II” (appropriately named- his first album was self-titled) is Kevin’s second solo album.  It contains several older Southern Gospel standards as well as some other songs.  The cover of the album is plain, clean, and simple- just a picture of Kevin and the album title.  I was pleased to see that he included the song lyrics on the inside of the cover.

            Southern Gospel fans will be very familiar with the first song, “This Old House”.  Yes, it’s the same one that George Younce made popular during his career with the Cathedral quartet.  I must admit- when Kevin first started singing this song, I did a double-take at how much he sounds like Younce.  Even down to his phrasing and tones, you can tell that Kevin has, consciously or unconsciously, patterned himself somewhat after Younce.  The ending to this particular arrangement of the song is a bit different than the original, and I’m not sure it quite fits the rest of the song.  Still, it was a good way to start off the album.  The next song is another familiar tune.  “Angel Band” is a medium-tempo song that calls for a smooth vocal, and Kevin handles it admirably.  I will say, though, that I’m glad that the liner notes reveal that someone else was singing the second verse to this song.  Otherwise, I would have attributed his voice to Kevin’s, and that would have taken away a bit from his performance.  The other man’s voice isn’t bad, but it was a bit nasally in its tones.

            Song #3 is a slow, smooth ballad entitled “I Won’t Last A Day Without You”.  The more I hear Kevin sing, the more I am impressed with his voice.  It’s obvious that he is a bass, but he has a higher baritone range that is very pleasant to listen to. (Again, like George Younce)  This leads into another old favorite from anyone’s church hymnal, “I’d Rather Have Jesus”.  This is a medium-tempo arrangement with some nice string sounds in the arrangement.  I particularly like the way Kevin gives his voice more of a “hushed” tone on the verses before getting a bit stronger on the chorus.  Subtle voice inflections such as this can really make or break a song.

            The fifth song is well-known as well.  “Angels Watchin’ Over Me” is the first time we get to really hear Kevin’s lower register.  His tones are smooth and clear, but the jazz-style arrangement of the song is not one of the best I’ve heard.  It’s a bit distracting.  Song #6 is another medium-tempo, smooth song called “There Is A Reason”.  Kevin is back in his higher register for this one, and he’s as smooth as on previous songs.  This is followed by another smooth, medium-tempo song called “How Deep The Father’s Love”. 

            Song #8, “In The Palm Of Your Hand”, is a bit faster than the previous couple of songs.  The arrangement is very nice, but it’s of a similar style as most of the songs on this album.  The ninth song is really, besides the first song, the only true up-tempo song on the album.  “Hallelujah, I’m Ready” is a classic bluegrass tune that will get your foot tappin’.  Kevin is able to make his voice sound like he’s been singing bluegrass all of his life, and that is one of the reasons that this is hands-down my favorite song on the entire album.  The tempo slows down a bit for the tenth song, “Everybody’s Reaching Out For Someone”.  This one has an older-style country sound to it, and it features Kevin in a duet with a female singer.

            Song #11 is, admittedly not one of my favorite songs.  Still, “You Are So Beautiful To Me” is a familiar tune that is loved by many.  Kevin drops down into his middle registers for this one, and he again shows that he can match his tones to the mood of the song.  The recitation in the middle of the song is clearly spoken and follows the music perfectly.  The album closes with another jazz-style tune entitled “Look For The Silver Lining”. 

            Overall, my impression of Kevin was a good one.  He has a good range to his voice, and it really is uncanny at times how much he actually does sound like George Younce.  He has smooth tones in his upper range just as Younce did, and his phrasing is reminiscent of Younce as well.  His lower-range tones are clear and unforced.  He also has the ability to “feel” a song and make his voice match the mood.  As a vocalist, he is very talented.  However, the album itself is lacking a bit in some ways.  First of all, the vast majority of the songs are in the medium-tempo category or the slower-tempo category.  More variety in song tempos would have been nice.  I realize that the styles in which Kevin sings (hymns, older Southern Gospel, jazz, etc.) somewhat lend themselves to slower tempos, but there are songs and arrangements in these styles that speed things up a bit.  Secondly, I’d like to see Kevin use his range more throughout the course of an album.  Only one song really showed his lower range, which is a shame because it’s pleasant to listen to.  His higher range is excellent as well, but he needs to show his versatility more.  Maybe re-key some of the higher songs, look for songs in keys that allow him to sing in the middle range of his voice, or add some key changes into some of the songs to allow him to show how versatile his voice is.  I would be very interested to hear what Kevin could do with some original material.

I would like to thank the Kevin for the opportunity to review this album, and I would like to thank Lorraine Walker for recommending that Kevin send in his album for a review.  I enjoyed getting to listen to this album, and I’ll be looking forward to what Kevin records in the future.  Overall, I would give it a rating of 7 out of a possible 10 microphones!

Personal Favorites: “Angel Band” and “Hallelujah, I’m Ready”