I hope this doesn't take too much of anyone's time, but I have something I believe needs to be said to the
blues community.

My name is Jeremy Loome, and I am a 37-year-old guy from Edmonton.

Like many hardcore blues fans, it's about all I listen to and has been a comfort, source of inspiration and creative outlet for me for years, ever since hearing BB King sing 'How Blue Can You Get' as an 11-year-old homesick kid. It has seen me through turbulent times and near-death experiences, tragedies among those I love and countless other pressures of life.

This hardcore love of all things Albert Collins, Son Seals, Freddie King and Watermelon Slim is a big part of my life; I write about the blues for my newspaper, play in a local band, record local acts occasionally and, in a period of sheer grueling insanity and near fatal workload, ran a free e-zine online that between 800 and 1,500 blues fans would read each week.

Like a lot of blues folk, I've secretly yearned for years to see it commercially accepted and for the artists to get their due. Eddie Taylor, I've always figured, should be a musical God to people.

Recently, I got a chance to support what may be the first FM radio chain application to service blues and nothing but the blues. A Canadian duo wants to invest millions in being the guys that take the chance on blues that no one else has since its heyday as 45's spinning on neighbourhood jukeboxes. They've proposed six stations across Canada in major markets, and
intend on selling programming to stations across the U.S., as well as streaming all their stations online.

The potential exposure for blues could be huge, increasing its audience by millions instantly.

I was just as surprised, unfortunately, to find out this week that the application is being opposed by CKUA.

CKUA is a brilliant, eclectic outlet in Edmonton that currently has five hours of dedicated blues programming per week. It
believes a commercial blues station could hurt its audience draw, which, as an entirely publicly supported station, would hurt its bottom line.

I am aghast, given that I have financially supported CKUA for years, that it would need to shut blues artists and fans out of their first major FM radio commercial exposure in years to protect such a small percentage of its audience -- even assuming people who listen to public radio would simply abandon it for the duration of their two three- hours shows each week.

Although I believe CKUA's management may feel it must do business by taking on this commercial venture and opposing its CRTC license, the net result will be a substantial loss to the blues community, caused by a public station with a mandate to support cultural expansion and expression. It is also the only public station in Canada opposing the blues stations.

Please write politely to CKUA at the address below or contact them through their website if you feel a full-time, 100% blues station should get a shot.

Thanks for your time,
Jeremy Loome

http://www.ckua.org/
ken.regan@ckua.com -- GM Ken Regan's Email