Bob Chelmick started at CKUA in 1969 as a fresh-faced 19-year-old. As a student with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) he handled the weekend news. His first full-time gig was hosting the morning show, then called Shank of the Morning. After four years at CKUA, the young man took a 28-year-hiatus from radio. He spent those years as a television journalist and news anchor for CBC and CTV. He returned “home” to CKUA as he says, in 2001, as morning host. Soon after, he created The Road Home, which has acquired a very loyal following over its years on the air.
Bob’s varied experiences lend themselves to true depth as a host. “All that I have learned as a journalist, music curator, visual artist, film maker, transcendental meditation teacher, student of nature, lover of animals, curious listener, poetry devotee.... all of it has been a preparation for The Road Home program,” he says. Poetry, song, story, and sounds of nature are featured in every one of his shows. A life-long lover of radio, Bob says it’s “at its best an intimate sharing between two humans: the host and the listener (singular.)” The Road Home goes on, even as “Backwoods Bob” leaves his Alberta cabin-in-the-woods for a new clearing in the Cape Breton boreal forest.
What are three go-to songs that inspire Bob?
"Canned Goods" by Greg Brown
"La Vita" by Beverly Glenn-Copeland
"Is It Like Today" by Eliza Gilkyson
What is an interesting detail you might not know about Bob?
I've been practicing Transcendental Meditation 2x daily for 50 years. Jai Guru Dev!
The Road Home
The Road Homeoffers a quiet cabin in the woods for listeners to enjoy; a place of refuge and discovery, rife with images that move the mind and the heart. Host Bob Chelmick offers poetry, songs, and reflections on his world of dogs, horses, birds and other subjects for a gentle adventure on the road we all share.
