by Shera Everette
Carrboro Commons Writer

As a fire blazed in the background and conversations filled the dimly-lit room on Feb. 22, diners at Bahama Breeze Island Grille in Raleigh were treated to sounds from the Caribbean.

Mickey Mills of Carrboro captivates the crowd at Bahama Breeze Island Grille in Raleigh with music from the Islands, mix of reggae and Caribbean.
staff photo by Shera Everette

“I love coming here and listening to his music,” said Mary Truesdale, who was having dinner with friends on the restaurant’s outside deck. “I’ve never met the musician, but I’ve seen him a lot, and hearing him in this setting is like being in the islands. I’ve never been before, but I imagine it’s just like this.”

The musician Truesdale was referring to is Mickey Mills of Carrboro. Every weekend, he serenades the crowd at Bahama Breeze with a blend of Caribbean, soca and reggae music played on his steel drums and electric keyboard.

Mills said he enjoys the atmosphere at Bahama Breeze, especially on the enclosed deck where he plays. He said the deck, dotted with tropical plants, is more relaxing and serene than the main restaurant.

“It has a very nice vibe here,” he said.

When he is not at “The Breeze,” Mills is busy with other engagements, either by himself or with his band, Mickey Mills & Steel. On Feb. 9, the band teamed up with Jamrock, Dub Addis, Cayenne and the G-Toy Band to celebrate the seventh annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash at Cat’s Cradle. Mills said the event was a huge success and gave honor to his greatest musical role model.

“Bob Marley has been one of my inspirational guides because of his music,” Mills said. “He has prophetic music that can be helpful now and speak to people, or that can speak to the future. That’s what my music is.”

The Trinidad native began playing the steel drums as a child, and when he was 12 years old he became a steel-drum soloist with Trinidad’s Solo Harmonite Steel Orchestra. The group toured all over the Caribbean and America. In 1970 his father sent him to America with the band to pursue his dream as a successful musician. Mills eventually settled in New York, where he worked with musicians, including Mick Jagger. Mills also worked with Harry Belafonte on an educational program in Brooklyn that introduced inner-city students to various types of music.

One night, after playing a gig in North Carolina, Mills had a vision that instructed him to move south and develop his own educational program.

“All I knew about North Carolina was Raleigh,” Mills said. “That part reminded me of home, with all the trees and beauty. Then I found a band in Carrboro, and the rest, as you all say, is history.”

Since moving to Carrboro in 1983, Mills has created a variety of educational programs, the most popular being Steel-A-Rama, which he showcases at different schools along the East Coast. He asks teachers to save aluminum cans prior to the workshop and then uses the cans as an instrument.

“I teach them on canophones,” Mills said. “You know the xylophone? Well, I have the canophone. If you have eight different cans, you have a scale. I can play anything on the canophone and the children enjoy it.”

Although he enjoys playing in front of crowds and spending time with children, he said there is another side to him that most people do not know.

“I am also a minister,” he said while pulling out his minister’s license. “Many people know Mickey Mills the musician, but don’t know this about me. So with me, you can get good music and good word. I’m the total package.”