Who is Jess Mills?
He's a piano player at Elaine's. Haven't you been paying any attention to the website so far? Sheesh.
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Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Jess Mills was born in Pleasanton, TX. He comes from a musically gifted family on both sides; his mother's parents, Bill and Ann Babb, are bluegrass musicians, formerly of Spring Creek Grass, now with Wild Rose Bluegrass. His father's mother, Bette Mills, went to college on a vocal music scholarship. His mother Linda was a member of her college choir, and his father (also Jess) often led the singing at church. The youngest of five children, he idolized his older siblings musical talents, and could be found toying with the family upright piano from the time he could stand up. When he was seven, his mother bought him a book on how to teach yourself to play the piano. He proceeded to drive everybody in the house completely mad by playing the exercises over and over again. And over and over again.
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I'm with the band, man!
Jess got his first taste of performance at the age of 12 with an impromptu musicians' jam session known as "Second Saturday Night." Held at Camp Chaparral in Texas once a month, it was a very welcoming venue. Having gotten his first taste of the spotlight, Jess began to perform every chance he could, providing the music for local melodramas, and at the age of 15 becoming a church pianist at the First United Methodist Church of Pleasanton. Around this time he met Dr. Andrew Parr, a classical musician who recognized the musical potential of Jess and encouraged him to pursue music through lessons and formal training.
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The College Years...
After a brief course of study with Anne Adams of San Antonio, Jess Mills won a musical scholarship to Stephen F. Austin State University. While there he studied piano performance under Dr. Parr, and composition under G. Darrell Holt. Along the way, he acquired a reputation as a serious scholar, a dedicated musician, and a caffeine addict.
He performed with every major ensemble, most notably the Swingin' Axes Jazz Band, the SFA Jazz Combo (which he helped found), and the SFA Wind Ensemble. He had compositions performed by a wide range of noted musicians and groups including Dr. Isidor Saslav, Dr. Dan Beaty, and the Orchestra of the Pines. And he never, ever slept.
While at SFA, he won virtually every scholarship and award available, was inducted into two honor societies, one sorority (sweet, huh?), gave a composition recital and three performance recitals, the last of which culminated in a performance of the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto in C minor.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music, with majors in Piano Performance, Composition, and Piano Pedagogy. He was voted by faculty to be the Outstanding Graduate of the College of Fine Arts.
After graduation, he returned home with the intention of sleeping for several years.
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Where do we go from here?
After graduating from SFA, Jess returned home to Pleasanton with the intention of resting, then moving to Austin to pursue his musical ambitions. Unfortunately, he had no real clue what his musical ambitions were. This is what some people call "a small problem."
He was quickly recruited into taking over the music program of his hometown church, and began that job with immense pleasure, writing music for the choir, playing the piano for all services, and selecting the music. He was also recruited into managing the local movie theater, a job he had held sporadically since 17 (being several hundred miles away at college kept him from being too steady at it). And he was also recruited into teaching choir for Pleasanton Junior High and High School. Yes, with two full-time jobs and one part-time, he very quickly went back to not sleeping. Ever.
After one year of teaching that felt more like a decade of sisyphean torment, he tendered his resignation to the principal.
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A Piano Bar? What's That?
On his birthday, a group of teacher friends dragged a very, very reluctant Jess to a Dueling Piano Bar in San Antonio called "Howl at the Moon." By the end of the night, Jess knew he had found his dream job. And severe intoxication.
He quit his other jobs and proceeded to train under Billy Ward, working with such Dueling Pianos talents as Tommy Ray Rodriguez, Mark Johnson, and Danny Smith. He trained at Howl and worked there for around a year-and-a-half. When Billy Ward left to become the Entertainment Director of "The Big Bang" in Tempe, AZ, Jess left "Howl at the Moon."
He briefly worked at "Pat O'Brien's" in San Antonio, before being offered a job at the original New Orleans Pat O's. He jumped at the chance, and was living quite happily on Bourbon St. until a certain Hurricane we won't mention (damn you, Katrina!) washed away that part of his life. He moved to Vegas, playing Dueling Pianos at Harrah's, Treasure Island, NY NY, and the Stardust Casinos. He also freelanced in Reno, NV, California, Washington, even working on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
He quickly tired of the Las Vegas life, and moved back to Texas to freelance there with an old college friend, Mark Smith. After a few months of that, he was offered a one-week gig in a town he'd never heard of called Asheville, playing at a new piano bar called Elaine's. One week turned into five, then turned into a permanent job offer.
Jess loves the climate, the scenery, the people he works with and for. As far as he's concerned, Asheville is a little piece of Heaven.
And yes, he does answer to "Piano Man," if you can't remember his name. Just don't call him "Jesse" or "Jeff." He hates that!