Francis Joseph Chithalen (November 17, 1967-May 1, 1999) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 musician. He was a bassist

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 for a number of bands in the Kingston

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

 music scene of the 1990s, most notably Weeping Tile

Weeping Tile (band)

Weeping Tile was a Canadian rock band in the 1990s.-History:The band was started by singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer in 1993, when she was invited to fill in for the opening band at a Thomas Trio and the Red Albino concert in Ottawa...

, The Mahones

The Mahones

-Biography:The Mahones are an Irish-born, Canadian Celtic punk band, influenced by the Celtic Rock revival of the late 1980's, pioneered by such bands as the Pogues and the Waterboys....

, and Wild Blues Yonder.

On May 1, 1999, Chithalen died in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 shortly after a Mahones concert, said to be from ingesting food containing peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

s. His former Weeping Tile bandmate Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...

 wrote "You Were Here", the title track from her 2000 solo album

You Were Here

You Were Here is an album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer, released in 2000.-History:You Were Here was Harmer's commercial breakthrough in Canada after years of almost reaching the pop charts with Weeping Tile. Ironically, the album's first big hit, "Basement Apt.", had previously been a...

, in memory of Chithalen.

After his death, the Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library (JOE'S M.I.L.L.) was established in Kingston, Ontario by some of his friends, family and past bandmates (including the late Wally High). The Library loans instruments to aspiring musicians who can't afford them. Some of Chithalen's own bass guitars and other stringed instruments sit in the lending Library, and are occasionally loaned out for performances.

The Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library (JOE'S M.I.L.L.) is a registered charitable organization. Details can be found at www.joesmill.org