Supermusician Bob Milne shows off his prodigious talents in Sewanee

To say that Bob Milne is a talented composer and musician would do him a disservice - when you consider that Milne has been studied at length by neurological researchers and declared a national treasure by the Librarian of Congress.

Milne will be in concert tonight, Feb. 16, at the University of the South with country singer Darryl Worley, Americana band Boy Named Banjo (featuring two Sewanee alumni) and jazz musician Brian Nova. The performance will include the premiere of Milne's song "Don't Forget Me, Tennessee," based on his visit to Sewanee last year.

On his website, Milne promotes his music as "ragtime and boogie-woogie piano at its best," but those piano skills are only part of the story. He's self-taught, playing everything by ear, an accomplishment he considers unremarkable because he thought "everyone knew how to play one of these things." He says he has never "practiced" piano a day in his life and never plays at home either. He says it's "no fun if nobody's there."

Since childhood, Milne has had a prodigy-like ability to hear any musical score and replicate it on the keys. Once Milne hears a song, he remembers every note, whether it's a ragtime boogie or Beethoven symphony. He can play in three time signatures at once - 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4 - playing one on his left hand, another with the thumb of his right hand and the last with the rest of his right hand. MRIs have shown that Milne can hear four distinct orchestral symphonies in his mind at once.

Milne attracted the attention of neurological scientists and researchers after he composed a two-and-a-half-hour opera, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," in his head while on a concert tour. This included the story line, music, lyrics and orchestrations, all while driving halfway across Montana.