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Wills jumps back in the game

By Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com

Just eight years ago, country singer Mark Wills was named the Top New Male Vocalist of 1999 by the Academy of Country Music.

Now he's a veteran, in the midst of a career "rekindling."

As part of the comeback journey, the still-youthful singer -- he celebrates his 34th birthday this week -- will headline the McLean County Fair grandstand at 7 p.m. Friday (free with gate admission).

It marks a return, of sorts, to his beginnings, when the county fair circuit was a healthy part of his summer regimen.

"Actually," he says, "I much prefer the smaller venues, like a county fair, where you can actually see the people's faces, as opposed to the bigger venues that seat thousands and are more impersonal."

Despite knocking out a string of 16 Top 40 country hits in less than a decade, the label he recorded them for, Mercury Nashville Records, dropped Wills from their roster in 2004 -- just two years after one of his biggest hit singles, the No. 1 smash "19 Something," a new song recorded for his 2002 "Greatest Hits" album.

After several years without a recording base, he signed with fellow singer Clint Black's own label, Equity Music Group.

Preceded by several singles ("Hank," "Take It All Out On Me" and the current "Days of Thunder"), the first album of Wills' new era, "Familiar Stranger," is due for release later this summer.

Fans familiar with Wills trademark aching-ballad tradition are in for an awakening.

"I still love all those songs, and they are a true representation of me, to a certain degree," Wills says. "But what got lost is the fact that I love to rock it up, too."

Though he calls the business end of music-making "a pain in the a--," Wills says he is ready to jump back into the game.

"You have to have good people around you, and I've got them -- except for my crappy road manager," he says, placing tongue firmly into cheek as said road manager moves into earshot of Wills' formula for success.

"I took a little down time to work on the new album, and one year turned into almost three years. It was not really any part of a plan" he says.

He admits that disappearing from the public's view is risking forgetfulness in a business that moves on in the wink of an eye.

"They forget about you, and move on," he agrees. "But for me it was taking that down time and kind of starting over, by finding what I want to do and the music I want to record."

That, he says, he did."

"But I'm in a good place right now, and the record is great -- it has me really excited; in fact, I'd say it's the best record of my career."

The road to that personal best began in the '70s, when Wills, born Daryl Mark Williams, was nurtured during his Blue Ridge, Ga., upbringing by the sounds of country acts like Alabama and Ronnie Milsap, as well as those of such rock acts as Bon Jovi and Motley Crue.

Scoring successes on the local talent circuit, he set off for the big city of Atlanta at age 17. Once there, he adopted the stage name of Mark Wills due to the presence of another Atlanta singer already billing himself as Mark Williamson.

At the city's famed Buckboard nightclub, he became the venue's "house" entertainer for half a decade.

The big turning point came in 1996, when Mercury Nashville Records signed the 23-year-old to a recording contract, followed by his first album, "Mark Wills," which produced the No. 6 hit, "Jacob's Ladder."

The next five years were pure gold, literally, as the singer began batting out one hit after another -- "Places I've Never Been," "I Do (Cherish You)," "Don't Laugh at Me" and the No. 1 smash "Wish You Were Here." Then along came that Academy of Country Music nod as 1999's Top New Male Vocalist.

En route, Wills met and married his wife, Kelly, and together they welcomed their first daughter, Mally, followed by No. 2 several years later, Macey.

One of Wills' key commitments during the past half decade of his career has been to take his music directly to American troops overseas.

As soon as the troops began heading to Afghanistan and Iraq in the wake of Sept. 11, the singer, who had a past track record of "doing stuff with the military," made it clear he wanted to be part of the overseas entertainment crusade.

"Lord willing, I'll continue to do it," Wills says. "Some of the best shows of my life have been entertaining for those men."

At a glance

What: Country singer Mark Wills, with opening act U.S. 66

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: McLean County Fair grandstand at Interstate Center, 2301 W. Market St., Bloomington

Cost: Free with fair admission (adults, $5; ages 6-12, $3; 5 and under, free)

Information: www.mcleancountyfair.org

Hometown boy part of the band

CROPSEY -- Mark Wills may hail from Georgia, but his drummer is one of McLean County's very own.

John Singer, the son of Joe and Marge Singer of Cropsey, will be providing the backbeat for Wills' music during his performance Friday night at the McLean County Fair grandstand.

In addition to providing the beat, Singer is also the leader of the Wills band.

Singer grew up in the Cropsey and Fairbury areas and, according to his sister, Janice Elbe of Saybrook, has never played in the McLean County area before.

Other fare

Although country singer Mark Wills is the big-name attraction at this year's McLean County Fair, the grandstand will see plenty of other action over the course of the fair's run, today through Sunday.

That action includes:

• Tonight, 6 p.m. ($1): McLean County Idol competition/finals

• Saturday, 7 p.m. ($15): Pepsi Nationwide Demolition Derby

• Sunday, 6 p.m. (adults, $15 advance and $20 day of; 12 and under, $10 advance and $15 day of): Tres Bandas (Three Hispanic Bands)

For more information, call (309) 829-4516.

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The Academy of Country's Top New Male Vocalist for 1999, Mark Wills, is back on the road after a three-year hiatus, performing as the McLean County Fair's grandstand headliner at 7 p.m. Friday.

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Hometown boy part of the band

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