"Luar de Prata" than evolves into "Milton Nascimento e seu Conjunto", with which he performs in several cities in the area. With other friends, the duo Milton and Wagner put together the "W's Boys".
The group is such a hit that the two are invited to join the "Conjunto Holliday" in Belo Horizonte, who were recording the LP "Barulho de Trem".

He moves once and for all to Belo Horizonte, and settles in at a bed and breakfast at the Edifício Levy, where he meets the Borges family. Besides "Holliday", he takes part in the ballroom band "Célio Balona".

Together with Wagner Tiso and Paulinho Braga, he started the "Berimbau Trio", where he debuts as a double bass player. In between performances, he wrote his first song, never to stop again. The LP "Quarteto Samba-Cana" was recorded around this time, with Pacífico Mascarenhas.

He takes part in the Festival Berimbau de Ouro, in São Paulo, with Cidade Vazia by Baden Powell and Lula Freire. He has his first song recorded by the Tempo Trio group, the instrumental piece E a Gente Vai Sonhando. In the same year, Elis Regina records Canção do Sal.
Living in São Paulo, Milton visits a Spiritist Center (a place for those who follow Allan Kardec's doctrine) with his friend, piano player Adilson Godoy, on the day of St Cosme and Damian, when he is warned of a great change soon to come in his life.

Upset by the competitive mood in the festivals, Milton decides to never again take part in one, but in 1967 he gets to know Agostinho dos Santos in one of his performances in a bar in São Paulo (city). Agostinho, under the false pretense of recording his own album, asks Milton for a tape with three songs and submits them to the Festival Internacional da Canção contest. The three songs qualify, Milton is chosen best interpreter, and one of the songs, "Travessia" takes second place, becoming one of the best known and re-recorded songs by Milton, both in Brazil and abroad.

Soon after, the FIC (Festival Internacional da Canção) records its first album, with the participation of the Tamba Trio. In the TV show "As melhores músicas brasileiras do século XX"(a show to pic the top songs of the 20th century) by Rede Globo (a TV network), Travessia took the 7th place, with Milton and Fernando Brant being the only two living songwriters in the top 10.