Paul Mills To Receive Estelle Klein Award

Each year, the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (OCFF) honours the work of an individual or group that has made significant contributions to Ontario’s folk music community. The award is named after Estelle Klein, a long-time advocate of Canadian folk music and one of the early founders of the folk festival scene in this country. We are pleased as punch that our founding partner Paul Mills is this year’s recipient of this prestigious award.

From teenage folk groups and a member of the seminal folk scene of London, Ontario’s Smale’s Pace Coffee House (Bradstreet, Bennett, Rogers, Essig, MacArthur et al) Paul has continued to be a major contributor to the Ontario and Canadian folk scenes. As a producer at CBC Radio he created the national folk program Touch The Earth with Sylvia Tyson, and had a strong hand in the design of the Glenn Gould Studio theatre in the CBC’s new Broadcast Centre. As a record producer he has produced countless albums for the likes of Stan Rogers, Sharon, Lois & Bram and Ron Hynes. Paul is also one of the best finger picking guitarists on the folk scene today. Check out “Stubbs Stomp” on his album The Other Side Of The Glass written by his best friend Curly Boy Stubbs.

For over forty years Paul has been one of the strongest advocates, allies and musicians on the Canadian folk music scene and as far as we can tell there’s no slowing down in sight.

In between his production work at his own Millstream studio and his presence on the Boards of Folk Music Canada and the OCFF, he still finds time to perform extensively with Joanne Crabtree in the duo Crabtree & Mills. They are just completing their third recording together.

Wherever Estelle is right now, we are certain she’s heartily applauding this year’s decision by the OCFF. We too are proud to be Paul’s friends and partners in the folk music journey.

Bill Garrett & Grit Laskin