Holger Petersen 

holger.petersen@ckua.com



I’ve been hanging around CKUA since I was a student. It has been a wonderful and ongoing education to work with its vast and eclectic musical library. I’ve always been especially drawn to the honesty and integrity of roots and blues music, which really touches the soul. When I started hosting Natch'l Blues back in 1969, I never dreamed I’d still be at it today! It’s now the longest-running blues program in Canada, and probably among the oldest in the world.

I also run Stony Plain Records, a Canadian roots-music label started around my kitchen table in Edmonton in 1976. As a record producer, I’ve worked with artists like Maria Muldaur, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jay McShann, Ronnie Earl, Long John Baldry, Amos Garrett, Johnny Shines, Roosevelt Sykes, Walter Horton, Jeff Healey, Duke Robillard, Rory Block, Harry Manx and Kevin Breit, and Joe Louis Walker. My work has earned 10 Juno Awards and four Grammy nominations. I’ve served as a director of Canada’s performing rights society, SOCAN; contributed to the Canadian Independent Record Production Association; and helped found the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and the Alberta Recording Industries Association.

I was voted "Media Person of the Year" at the National Maple Blues Awards for my work on Natch'l Blues and Saturday Night Blues, the program I host on CBC Radio One. I’ve received an honorary doctorate of letters from Athabasca University; a membership in the Order Of Canada for contributions to Canadian culture; and a “Best Public Radio Broadcaster” award from the Blues Music Association in Memphis, the first time a non-American received that recognition.

After more than four decades, I continue to be inspired by the work of CKUA and its staff, and the music that we play. No wonder I never left!