Veteran folk music producer Paul Mills received the 2009 Helen Verger Award Aug. 23, during the Ottawa Folk Festival. Each year, the festival presents the award to an individual who's made a significant, sustained contribution to folk/roots music in Canada. Past recipients include Bruce Cockburn, Colleen Peterson, Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Willie P. Bennett.

Mills has been an integral part of the Canadian folk scene for more than 30 years. In that time, he's produced more then 140 albums, working with artists such as Stan Rogers, Ron Hynes, and Sharon Lois & Bram. Mills is a founding partner of Borealis Records, a company that distributes and promotes Canadian folk/roots music across the country and beyond. He's the current president of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (OCFF), an organization dedicated to strengthening the folk/roots music industry.

Albums produced and engineered by Mills have had significant success, earning four gold records, two platinum records, six Juno nominations, and five East Coast Music Awards. Natalie MacMaster’s album, My Roots Are Showing, which Paul engineered, won the 1999 Juno Award for best instrumental album. Sharon Lois & Bram’s album Skinnamarink TV, co-produced by Mills with Bill Garrett, won the 2000 Juno for best children’s album. As the producer of all but one of Stan Rogers' albums, Paul helped to bring Rogers' special talent to countless fans.

Mills is also a performing songwriter, instrumentalist and, on occasion, a children’s entertainer. As a guitarist and singer, he's performed for many years under the stage name "Curly Boy Stubbs," and his superb finger-style guitar playing can be heard on many of the albums he's produced. He also plays banjo, mandolin and ukulele. In 2006, he released a well-received album of his own music, The Other Side of the Glass.