Canadian songwriter Frank Mills has much in common with ‘In Flanders Fields’ author

By Chris Brown on September 27, 2018.

cbrown@medicinehatnews.com @MHNBrown

For Frank Mills, writing his newest song was an unforgettable experience.

Though he “retired” from songwriting a few years prior he was actually looking for a reason to write again when he received an email from Joanne Johnson about a year ago asking him to put music to the poem “In Flanders Fields.”

“When she wrote me I came out of writing retirement,” Mills said with a chuckle.

During the process and doing research on the poem and its author, John McCrae, Mills discovered many instances where his own life butted up against that of McCrae.

First Mills discovered McCrae studied medicine at Montreal’s McGill University, as Mills did before he went into music (“He passed and I flunked,” said Mills). Then he learned that McCrae worked in Montreal at Royal Victoria Hospital where his own father died. Later Mills found out McCrae worked for eight years at the hospital he visits to this day in Burlington, Vermont.

“Last but not least I discovered the words in his poem ‘the torch; be yours to hold it high’ was the high school motto — the torch — and the expression that I ended my valedictory speech with,” Mills said.

Suffice it to say there’s a lot of places their lives intersect, though decades apart.

“Someone told me you better do this and do it right. And I hope I have,” Mills said. “I think it’s one of my better efforts. I hope it is, it’s a beautiful poem.”

He praises Neil Donell and Rique Frank, who provided the vocals on the track, saying they did a great job with the song.

The song appears on the album “The Frank Mills Story,” released last week, and has yet to be performed in concert. Mills says he’ll be trying it out for the first time in Winnipeg when his tour starts on Sept. 30. He’ll be at the Esplanade on Oct. 6 for a 7 p.m. show.

Mills says the album’s title is “basically what I’m doing in the show. I’m telling the story of where I began, where it went, and how far it went and how fun it’s been to be back out and writing again.”

He was at the Esplanade in May 2017 and humbly admits there must be some sort of demand for him in Medicine Hat and across Canada.

“It’s a great compliment that people still come out, you know. Gosh I’ve been touring Canada now for well over 40 years. It is nice, I enjoy it. It’s a very causal show that I do, and I try to get the people involved so it’s a pleasure.”

Tickets, $70.24 all in, are available at tixx.ca, by calling 403-502-8777 or in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall customer service desk.

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