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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.
This holiday season, we’re celebrating the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows. Each year since 1982, the program has recognized artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to the nation’s traditional arts heritage. This year’s fellows include the late hill country blues musician, R.L. Boyce; Suquamish basketmaker, Ed Carriere; African American quilter, Michael Cummings; Tejano musician, Joe De León “Little Joe” Hernández; Hawaiian Kapa maker, Roen Hufford; wampum and fiber artist, Elizabeth James-Perry; New Mexican sculptor, Luis Tapia; pipa master, Wu Man; and our own American Routes host, Nick Spitzer. Plus a live set from New Orleans’ Treme Brass Band, who received the award in 2006.
