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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.
We take a deep dive into the history of pianos and guitars, from studio to stage in jazz, blues, roots rock and soul. First, we cruise New Orleans to hear pianos played live to order in front of your house on a truck, and hear favorite studio recordings from heroes of the 88s including Ray Charles, Nina Simone, McCoy Tyner, Papo Lucca and Professor Longhair. Then we go to the stage at the National Folk Festival in Salisbury, Maryland for a round robin guitar session with Jerry Douglas, Bill Kirchen, Eddie Cotton and Steve Lewis. Plus some recorded guitar heroines: Mother Maybelle Carter, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Bonnie Raitt, and Lydia Mendoza
