John Mills was an Army brat, born in Frankfurt, Germany, however, he eventually settled in Texas. He sights among his musical influences, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Johnny Bush, Bob Wills, Buck Owens and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He began playing lead guitar at age 12, and also plays bass, drums, piano, mandolin and harmonica. John's been playing music full time for about 10 years, and writes or co-writes most of the band's music. His band, The Texas Road Dawgs are: Rodney Smith on drums and vocals, Glen Kay on bass and Steve Richter on guitar and steel guitar. Their sound is pure Texas honky tonk. John's also got some pretty talented friends, and some of them pitched in and lent a hand on Honky Tonks & Neon Lights. John's mentor and friend of 20 years, Clay Blaker produced the disc, and adds his vocals for a duet, as does Tommy Alverson. Also helping out are Robbie Springfield and Tommy Detamore on steel, Doug Driesel on piano and Jason Swindol on fiddle. In addition to his duties on vocals and lead guitar, John also contributes on bass, mandolin and harmonica. All the songs on Honky Tonks were either written or co-written by John, except two that were penned by another friend, Leland Martin ("Today Ain't Your Day" and "She Rules The Roost"). Honky Tonks & Neon Lights kicks off in high gear with the honky tonker "I See You For What You Are," a song written in "honor" of one of his exes, though he doesn't quite remember which one, and the word is, on the version that appears on this disc, John's toned down the lyrics some from it's original version. The outstanding, shuffling "Jim Beam and Jack Daniels (Wrote My Favorite Songs)" pretty much says it all about John's way of looking at his songwriting, "Jim Beam and Jack Daniels will make me rich or kill me dead." Seems there's an awful lot of unsung honky tonk heros in Texas, and Big John Mills & the Texas Road Dawgs sure fit into this category. If you like your Texas brand of music straight up, 100 proof honky tonk- the kind that instantly packs the dance floor- then Honky Tonks & Neon Lights is definitely the one for you.