''Saturday Night Blues'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

. Hosted by

Holger Petersen Holger Petersen, (born 23 November 1949) is a Canadian businessman, record producer and radio broadcaster. He founded the independent roots music record label Stony Plain Records in 1975 with partner Alvin Jahns. The label was sold to True Nor ...

, the program airs a mix of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. ''SNB'' first broadcast on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

in 1987."Patriot Lyon Mackenzie subject of radio tributes". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', December 4, 1987. "Holger Peterson, president of Edmonton's Stony Plains Records and the artistic director of the city's immensely successful annual folk festival, gets a CBC radio show starting Dec. 12, 10 o'clock Saturday nights. The program, entitled Saturday Night Blues will cover both traditional and current blues artists, with all of the records coming from Peterson's personal collection." Initially airing for one hour weekly, the program was expanded to two hours in 1990. In 2009, a second airing of the program was added to the schedule of CBC Radio 2, the CBC's music network (now

). In 2021, it was announced that the program would be taken off the

broadcast schedule with its final broadcast on that network on September 4, but it would still air on CBC Music on its regular schedule. Petersen, the program's host, is the owner of Canadian roots music label Stony Plain Records. A

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of live performances from the show, '' Saturday Night Blues: The Great Canadian Blues Project, Vol. 1'', was released in 1991 and won the 1992 Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. Peterson has also published two books of his musician interviews from ''Saturday Night Blues'' and his other radio show, CKUA Radio's ''Natch'l Blues''. For his work on ''Saturday Night Blues'' and on CKUA Radio's ''Natch'l Blues'', in 2008 Petersen won the 'Keeping the Blues Alive' award from the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

Great Canadian Blues Award

In the 1990s and 2000s, the program presented an annual Great Canadian Blues Award to the year's best Canadian blues musician. Winners of the award have included the

Downchild Blues Band The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" in the ea ...

, Jim Byrnes,

David Gogo David Gogo (born March 18, 1969), is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and bandleader who is currently signed to the independent Cordova Bay Records label. He was formerly signed to EMI Records. Between 1994 and 2014, he released 12 ...

Colin Linden Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking. He frequently collaborates with ...

Rita Chiarelli Rita Chiarelli is a Canadian blues singer. She was called "the goddess of Canadian blues" by Shelagh Rogers at CBC Radio One. Biography Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Chiarelli began performing in Ronnie Hawkins' band in the early 1980s ...

, David Wilcox,

Colin James Colin James (born Colin James Munn, August 17, 1964) is a Canadian rock and blues singer and songwriter. Biography Early years James was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. His grandpa was Serbian. He got his break opening for Stevie Ray V ...

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...

Big Dave McLean Big Dave McLean (born August 23, 1952) is a Canadian blues guitarist, harmonicist, singer and songwriter. A veteran performer, his work has had an influence on many western Canadian blues musicians, including Colin James and Wide Mouth Mason. Not ...

(1998), Matt Minglewood, Sue Foley, Georgette Fry,

Harry Manx Harry Manx (born 1955) is a Canadian musician who blends blues, folk music, and Hindustani classical music. His official website describes his music as being a "blend Indian folk melodies with slide guitar blues, add a sprinkle of gospel and ...

and

Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " A ...

References

External links

''Saturday Night Blues''

Saturday Night Blues - Canadian Communication Foundation
1987 establishments in Canada Awards established in 1990 CBC Radio One programs Mass media in Edmonton Canadian blues 1987 radio programme debuts CBC Music programs Blues mass media 1980s Canadian radio programs 1990s Canadian radio programs 2000s Canadian radio programs 2010s Canadian radio programs 2020s Canadian radio programs {{Canada-radio-show-stub