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American Routes
American Routes is a weekly two-hour public radio program produced in New Orleans, presenting a broad range of American music — blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical. Now in our 15th year on the air, American Routes explores the shared musical and cultural threads in these American styles and genres of music — and how they are distinguished.
American Routes celebrates this holiday weekend with words and music from the National Heritage Fellows Concert in Washington DC. Since 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts has presented the fellowships. It’s America’s highest honor in Folk & Traditional Arts. This year’s fellows include Texas ranchera elders Las Tesoros de San Antonio, Basque accordionist Dan Ansotegui, Malian balafon player Balla Kouyate, African American storyteller Linda Goss, Wyoming leatherworker James F. Jackson, Spanish colcha embroiderer Josephine Lobato, decoy carver Rich Smoker, Crow storyteller Grant Bulltail and Tennessee folklorist and state parks manager Bob Fulcher. Plus fellows from years gone by: Mavis Staples, Doc Watson, Wanda Jackson and the Holmes Brothers.
