Jonas Bernholm, hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, has been instrumental in sharing blues music. An 84-day, 10-city field trip in 1968, focusing on bluesy Southern deep soul music, was life-changing for him. In Memphis — the high point — he was guided by Estelle Axton and visited recording sessions at Stax, American Sound Studio, Royal Studios, Sun, etc. Beginning in 1976, Bernholm started a number of record labels including Route 66, Mr. R&B, Stockholm, Bluesboy, Crown Prince, Saxophonograph, Jukebox Lil, Gospel Jubilee, and Earth Angel, among others. From 1978 through 1983, Bernholm arranged European tours for pioneers of Rhythm & Blues including Roy Brown, Charles Brown, Jimmy McCracklin, Ruth Brown, Roscoe Gordon, and Nappy Brown, to name a few. Throughout his years as a record producer, Bernholm made sure that his artists received royalties for their songwriting and performances. His record labels issued 178 albums during his career. One of his strongest labels, Route 66, featured reissues from the 1940s and 1950s showcasing the talents of Floyd Dixon, Wynonie Harris, Ivory Joe Hunter, Amos Milburn, Percy Mayfield, and many others. Bernholm is an avid record collector, and his 26,000 LPs, 45s, and 78s, as well as artist correspondence, have been on display at the Smithsonian Institution since 1996. In 2013 a documentary on his career was featured for four months at the Stax Museum in Memphis, and in 2016 Jan Kotschack wrote a 360-page book about Bernholm titled Resan Mot Rockens Rotter.
