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January 15, 2021
We go live in concert and conversation with two New Orleans artists each of whom bring their family heritage forward into contemporary music. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla has called New Orleans home for many years, but her family ties are to Haiti. She draws on French…
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January 08, 2021
The dead of winter has us pondering warmer times with the help of songs of love – lost and found. Whether it’s from swooning crooners or heartbroken honky-tonkers, love has wedged itself prominently in the American songbook. We talk to two songwriters who specialize in matters of the heart: ’60s…
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January 01, 2021
Join us for a Louisiana New Year’s Party, complete with Cajun and Creole zydeco tunes to get you up and dancing, and New Orleans piano and song. First stop, live on stage in Lafayette with Beausoleil and Terrance Simien’s Zydeco Experience. Then, back home to New Orleans for a special live set with…
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December 18, 2020
We cruise New Orleans to hear pianos played live to order in front of your house on a truck. 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, piano and guitar greats…
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November 20, 2020
We’re bringing the blues from the clubs to the church this week on American Routes. The Campbell Brothers, from Rochester, NY, are masters of sacred steel. With both pedal and lap steel guitars, they summon the spirit in voice and sound. We’ll talk about growing up in the church and playing gospel…
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November 13, 2020
It’s American Routes Live in concert and conversation with musicians from rural Cajun and New Orleans Creole life. Singer-Songwriter Zachary Richard has been called the most American of French songwriters and the most French of American songwriters. We’ll visit with him and his band live at…
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Nov 06, 2020
The late Texas singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver was a prolific composer who drew inspiration from his life experiences: turning horses to working…
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Oct 30, 2020
By mail, by ballot box, by pulling a lever, or pushing a button on November 3rd, Americans will exercise their democratic right to vote for…
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Oct 22, 2020
Singer-Songwriter Dan Penn is the master behind so many well-loved R&B songs, from James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet” to Aretha Franklin’s…
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Oct 16, 2020
We reflect on these difficult times with sounds of solace and uplift to see us through solitude and the unknown. From Blue Skies and the Milky White…
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Oct 09, 2020
The Mississippi River runs from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico passing through rural forests, Iowa farm country, petrochemical coasts and…
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Oct 02, 2020
Deep in the heart of Texas, we visit with western swing trio The Hot Club of Cowtown, who started out in the bright lights of New York City and made…
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Sep 25, 2020
Bessie Smith was called the Empress of the Blues, but she was also the highest-paid African American entertainer of her generation. We’ll explore the…
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Sep 18, 2020
There is no more recognizable family name in jazz from New Orleans and beyond than: Marsalis. We’re paying tribute to the late pianist Ellis Marsalis…
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Sep 10, 2020
The great Texas river city is a mix of Mexican, German, Anglo and African American cultures, among others. Home to the Texas Conjunto Festival and…
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Sep 04, 2020
This Labor Day weekend, we’re rockin’ from the French Quarter Festival: a free, homegrown, four-day annual event featuring a vast array of local…
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Aug 27, 2020
15 years ago, the levees failed after Hurricane Katrina and covered 80% of New Orleans in water. The Federal flood left a human and ecological…
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Aug 20, 2020
Jackson, Mississippi blues guitarist Eddie Cotton, Jr. takes time out from his performance at the 2019 National Folk Festival to talk to us about his…
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Aug 13, 2020
This week we visit with two Southern crafters of music and song. Kentucky native and guitarist Joan Shelley takes her ethereal songwriting and…
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Aug 07, 2020
We go live in concert and conversation with two New Orleans artists each of whom bring their family heritage forward into contemporary music. Singer,…
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Jul 23, 2020
New Orleans’ own Basin Street Records is a homegrown record label featuring superstars of the local sound like the Rebirth Brass Band, Davell…
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Jul 16, 2020
This week, we celebrate the cultural minglings in New Orleans with a visit to the 2019 French Quarter Festival: a free, homegrown, four-day annual…
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Jul 10, 2020
We travel to Jamaica and Cuba, with connections in NY and New Orleans. Singer Jimmy Cliff is the global reggae star whose career was launched a…
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Jul 03, 2020
It's Fourth of July, and we dig into the archives for the roots of American Routes. It all began with a series of Independence Day concerts held…
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Jun 26, 2020
The Rolling Stones have been around for over five decades and touring almost as long. This week we listen back to Stones songs about working people,…
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Jun 19, 2020
We honor the struggle for equality with the sounds of freedom. Sixties soul queen Fontella Bass used her gospel background and voice to make freedom…
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Jun 12, 2020
We walk the line of isolation, go outside carefully with music and words of wisdom for contemplation, comfort and hope. It’s a Corona Stray from Home…
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Jun 04, 2020
Carlos Santana speaks about playing music from the streets of Tijuana to the stage at Woodstock, launching his career in San Francisco, and his hopes…
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May 28, 2020
Texas singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver is a prolific composer who draws inspiration from his life experiences: turning horses to working in a…
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May 21, 2020
American Routes celebrates this holiday weekend with words and music from the National Heritage Fellows Concert in Washington DC. Since 1982, the…
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May 14, 2020
We explore the world of daydreams, nostalgia, fantasy and future selves. Time travel with songwriting scenester Eric Andersen back to his days…
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May 08, 2020
Songs and stories of the healing power of music and its role in improving personal health with gospel singer Cora Harvey Armstrong, Apsaalooke rapper…
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Apr 30, 2020
Songs and stories of the healing power of music and its role in improving personal health with gospel singer Cora Harvey Armstrong, Apsaalooke rapper…
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Apr 24, 2020
We’re celebrating 50 years of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by looking back at historic performances from the first festival in 1970.…
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Apr 17, 2020
John Prine, the beloved songmaker, singer and guitarist passed away from the coronavirus in Nashville on April 7, 2020. This week we present our…
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Apr 10, 2020
It’s a Spring Awakening, and we’ve got songs about bunny hops, rockin’ robins, and fragrant flowers but also lonely hours, gospel prayers and…
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Apr 02, 2020
This week on American Routes, we’ll ride along with fiddler and singer Alison Krauss on her journey through bluegrass and country, from small-town…
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Mar 27, 2020
Bessie Smith was called the Empress of the Blues, but she was also the highest paid African American entertainer of her generation. We’ll explore the…
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Mar 19, 2020
This week on American Routes we peer into the minds of musical dreamers of the past and present, exploring dreams of love, immigration, and a more…
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Mar 12, 2020
The Mississippi River has produced great cultural icons in jazz, blues, gospel, rockabilly, roots rock and soul and many other music styles near its…
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Mar 06, 2020
We’re on the road again, dialed into high-flying honky-tonk as we cruise through Texas cotton patches and Midwestern pastures of plenty. Starting off…
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Feb 28, 2020
This week on American Routes: it’s a rare Leap Year show with Guilty Pleasures and Forgotten Treasures. As the 29th of February rolls around we take…
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Feb 14, 2020
We take a deep dive into the vaults of Blue Note Records, the independent label that helped put artists like Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, and Jimmy…
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Feb 06, 2020
Jackson, Mississippi blues guitarist Eddie Cotton, Jr. takes time out from his performance at the 2019 National Folk Festival to talk to us about his…
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Jan 31, 2020
We take a deep dive into the memory vaults to spin the tunes that we shamelessly love. From guilty pleasures, including a disco dance number, to…
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Jan 24, 2020
Singer Tanya Tucker got her start as a very young singer in Nashville. At age 13, she had her first hit with “Delta Dawn.” Since then, she’s seen a…
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Jan 16, 2020
In the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. With Cyril Neville For the Martin Luther King holiday we honor his spirit and struggle with African American…
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Jan 10, 2020
We travel to Jamaica and Cuba, with connections in NY and New Orleans. Singer Jimmy Cliff is the global reggae star whose career was launched a half…
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Jan 03, 2020
We trace stardom back to its source, traversing the roots and routes that led small town musicians to national fame. Pop icon Boz Scaggs and the late…
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Dec 26, 2019
It’s time to celebrate the New Year with live music from the French Quarter including the Rebirth Brass Band, jazz with Leroy Jones ...and Ellis…
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Dec 19, 2019
It’s that time of year, when the days are shorter and the nights are colder. Warm up to our sounds for the season. Classic songs to celebrate the…
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Dec 05, 2019
From Great Britain to the Big Easy, we explore the sounds of musical and social breakouts. First, we hear how British blues pioneer John Mayall broke…
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Nov 29, 2019
American Routes celebrates this Thanksgiving weekend with words and music from the National Heritage Fellows Concert in Washington DC. Since 1982,…
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Nov 22, 2019
This Week on American Routes, we trace the musical DNA and psychic aura of the blues from its Delta roots to Chicago’s electric pioneers, across a…
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Nov 15, 2019
TODAY'S PROGRAM MY BE PRE-EMPTED BY LIVE NPR NEWS COVERAGE OF THE TRUMP IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY. This week we visit with two Southern crafters of music…
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Nov 07, 2019
New Orleans’ Ponderosa Stomp has presented the “unsung heroes of American music” for well over a decade in blues, soul, country, rockabilly and…
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Nov 01, 2019
Songs and stories of the healing power of music and its role in improving personal health with gospel singer Cora Harvey Armstrong, Apsaalooke rapper…
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Oct 24, 2019
To usher in the season of the witch, we invoke the power of hoodoo charms and haunted melodies, blood moons and black magic. And we hang with the Bay…
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Oct 18, 2019
We are live in New Orleans at Preservation Hall for the nouveau stylings and hybrid sounds that have been cooking up in the historic jazz hub…
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Oct 11, 2019
The Rolling Stones have been around for over five decades and touring almost as long. This week we listen back to Stones songs about working people,…
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Oct 04, 2019
We revel in the live sounds of New Orleans and South Louisiana. First, turn it up for the “New Sound of New Orleans” with the Soul Rebels brass band,…
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Sep 27, 2019
We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with prominent voices of Latin American music. Carlos Santana speaks about playing music from the streets of…
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Sep 19, 2019
As temperatures begin to dip and the leaves turn color, we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox with a soundtrack for the changing season. We hope for…
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Sep 13, 2019
For Volume 2 of our Guilty Pleasures series, we revel in the freedom to create an eclectic flow—during these days of algorithmic radio—from Lotte…
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Sep 06, 2019
We peer into the minds of musical dreamers of the past and present, exploring dreams of love, immigration, and a more perfect union. Singer songmaker…
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Aug 29, 2019
This Labor Day weekend, we’re rockin’ from the French Quarter Festival: a free, homegrown, four-day annual event featuring a vast array of local…
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Aug 23, 2019
In this special program, American Routes' host Nick Spitzer uncovers the music and cultural traditions of Los Angeles: from Hollywood to…
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Aug 16, 2019
We’re taking a trip to Tinseltown to explore the music that brings movies to life. We’ll hear from trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, who…
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Aug 09, 2019
We explore the sonic hues of the blues in jazz, R & B, country, Cajun and pop. We'll hear blues inflections in the music of Gene Vincent and George…
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Aug 02, 2019
We remember lost heroes of New Orleans music, beginning with Art Neville, a founding member of The Meters and the Neville Brothers, who passed away…
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Jul 26, 2019
We travel from Mississippi juke joints to the streets of the French Quarter to hear from those who record and perform music. Folklorist Bill Ferris…
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Jul 19, 2019
From Great Britain to the Big Easy, we explore the sounds of musical and social breakouts. First, we hear how British blues pioneer John Mayall broke…
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Jul 12, 2019
It’s a two-hour walk through streets of the city as we dive into two great eras of New Orleans music. First, it’s the 1940s and 50s R&B hit factory…
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Jul 05, 2019
This Independence Day weekend, we celebrate the cultural minglings in New Orleans, the city whose unparalleled diversity gave birth to some of the…
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Jun 27, 2019
The dead of winter has us planning ahead for Valentine’s Day and life itself with songs of love—lost and found. Whether it’s from swooning crooners…
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Jun 20, 2019
New Orleans’ soulful hoodoo rock and roller and carnivalesque hero Mac Rebennack, better known as Dr. John, passed away on June 6, 2019. Within a…
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Jun 13, 2019
From “Ol’ Man River” to “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” we turn to the American songbook for portraits of fatherhood, both kindly and cautionary, from…
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Jun 06, 2019
What comes to mind when you hear the word “Diva”? We’ve found that it’s a word that can go both ways—as praise for an accomplished and magnetic…
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May 30, 2019
via American RoutesFor Volume 2 of our Guilty Pleasures series, we revel in the freedom to create an eclectic flow—during these days of algorithmic…
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Jan 30, 2019
Ray Charles’ unique vision blended the best of jazz and R&B, gospel and soul, country and pop into distinctive music that forever changed the…
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Oct 04, 2018
We’ll sample the sabor latino in American music. Join us for conversation with Los Lobos on their mix of American pop and Mexican traditions.
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Sep 20, 2018
As temperatures begin to dip and the leaves turn color, we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox with a soundtrack for the changing season.
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Sep 13, 2018
A conversation with a man of many talents: songwriter, actor, boxer, military man, among many titles, Kris Kristofferson, reflecting on his life in…
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Sep 06, 2018
We're on the road again, dialed into high-flying honky tonk as we cruise through Texas cotton patches and Midwestern pastures of plenty.
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Aug 30, 2018
The long-running Baton Rouge Blues Festival draws on the Louisiana capital’s definitive musical legacy.
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Aug 23, 2018
Some great live performances in and beyond New Orleans. First, from the cavernous Howlin’ Wolf club in the Warehouse District, The Meters perform a…
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Aug 16, 2018
Facing the hot season head on, we hit up juke joints, dancehalls and folk festivals to get our fill of hot licks from blues and bluegrass musicians,…
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Aug 09, 2018
For this special American Routes program, we follow the lives of two giants of jazz: Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane.
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Aug 02, 2018
We hit the open road to hear tales of adventure and woe from honky-tonkers and hobos, train-hoppers and busking bohemians.
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Jul 26, 2018
We trace stardom back to its source, traversing the roots and routes that led small town musicians to national fame.
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Jul 19, 2018
Traveling at the speed of 45 RPM, we sink into the record grooves of some of our favorite songs and talk to the studio wizards who produced them.
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Jul 12, 2018
We take a deep dive into the vaults of Blue Note Records, the independent label that helped put artists like Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey and Jimmy…
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Jul 05, 2018
Happy July Fourth! Add some sizzle to your backyard barbecue with hot licks from the stage as we road trip from New Orleans to Butte, Montana.
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Jun 21, 2018
To kick off the summer season, American Routes is riding the airwaves to exotic destinations, swinging and surfing to all manner of beachside rhythms…
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Jun 14, 2018
From “Ol’ Man River” to “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” we turn to the American songbook for portraits of fatherhood, both kindly and cautionary, from…
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Jun 07, 2018
As the promise of summer rises with the heat index, we explore the world of daydreams, nostalgia, fantasy and future selves.
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May 31, 2018
We hit up Preservation Hall in the French Quarter for a potent dose of trad jazz, as bandleader and fourth-generation Creole musician Charlie Gabriel…
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Apr 10, 2018
American Routes boogies down to bayou country to catch live music at Festival International, a showcase of French music from southwest Louisiana and…
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Apr 05, 2018
This week, American Routes revisits the best live performances from the 2016 Baton Rouge Blues Festival.
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Mar 21, 2018
Little Freddie King, Anders Osborne, Dr. Michael White & Music Maker Relief Foundation From healing songs and expressions of pain to hoodoo cure-alls…
Live Radio
For this special fundraising edition of American Routes, host Nick Spitzer brings you some of our hometown music here in New Orleans and South Louisiana!
