Paul Mills is a graduate engineer, musician, musical arranger, graphic designer and recently retired record producer/engineer. This unique combination of skills has resulted in a varied career. He joined CBC Radio, Canada’s national public radio network in 1972 as a music producer and later moved over to the Radio Drama department as producer and executive producer. As a music producer for CBC Radio in the seventies, he conceived and produced a national folk music program called “Touch The Earth” which was hosted by Sylvia Tyson. As a drama producer, he helped develop the award-winning series, “The Scales of Justice” which was later adapted for CBC Television. Later, he was put in charge of planning the radio facilities in the new CBC building in Downtown Toronto and eventually became a senior manager for CBC Radio.
In addition to his work at CBC, Paul Mills has been part of the Canadian folk music scene and recording industry for over forty years. He has produced close to 200 albums working with artists such as the late Stan Rogers (all but one of Rogers’ albums were produced by Mills), Sharon, Lois and Bram, Terry Kelly, Ron Hynes and John Allan Cameron. He is a founding partner of the “Borealis Recording Company”. He owned and operated his own production company and recording studio called “The Millstream” for 20 years.
Albums produced or engineered by Paul have earned four gold records (sales over 50,000), two platinum records (sales over 100,000), 6 Juno nominations (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys), and 5 East Coast Music Awards. Natalie MacMaster’s record, “My Roots are Showing”, which Paul engineered, won the 1999 Juno award for best instrumental album. Sharon Lois & Bram’s recording “Skinnamarink TV”, co-produced by Paul with Bill Garrett won the 2000 Juno for “Best Children’s Album”. Terry Kelly’s “Power of the Dream” won the 2003 East Coast Music Award for best roots and traditional album. Ron Hynes’ “Get Back Change” won the 2004 East Coast Music Awards for “Album of the Year” and “Best Country Album”. In 2006, Mills produced a second album for Hynes which garnered Ron the ECMA “Male Vocalist of the Year”
In addition to his work as a producer and performer, Paul has served on various Boards: he is the Past President of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (Now Folk Music Ontario) and has served on the Boards of Folk Music Canada and the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Until recently, Paul was Chair of the Board of the Home County Music and Art Festival in London, Ontario. In 2011, Paul was awarded the Estelle Klein Award by Folk Music Ontario. The award recognizes the work of an individual who has made significant contributions to Ontario’s folk music community. For more information and a video on Paul and his lifetime achievements, click here.
More recently, in June of 2017, Paul was named as a Member of the Order of Canada, a prestigious honour given to those whose life work has made a significant contribution to Canada.
Paul has released one CD of his own work called “The Other Side of the Glass”. In 2017 he recorded a CD with his son, Trevor prior to them doing a Home Routes tour in Manitoba. More information here.