American Routes is blues and jazz, gospel and soul, rockabilly and country, Cajun and swamp pop, Tejano, Latin… and beyond. Songs and stories from musicians describe a deep and diverse nation with sounds and styles shared by all Americans. From the bayous to the beltways, from crossroads to crosstown, on interstates and city streets, turn up your radio for the sonic journey!
American Routes—produced in New Orleans since 1998
Making Music on Records & Excavating Shellac
July 9, 2025
We’re spinning jazz, country, blues, pop and roots music heard locally and globally for over a century on records and later on jukeboxes, in cafes, barrooms and juke joints. We’ll hear June Carter and Johnny Cash, New Orleans’ jazzmen Kermit Ruffins and Danny Barker, Robert Johnson, and the Rolling Stones…then and now. Plus we’ll travel the world from earlier in the 20th century in search of rare music on 78s as dug up by sonic researcher, Jonathan Ward, for his collection, “Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World’s Music.”
NEXT WEEK
Sun, Surf and Soul: Sea Breeze Beach and San Diego Surfers
It’s summertime, and the living is easy on American Routes. We’ve got cool tunes from Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Beach Boys to help you beat that summer heat. We’ll hear memories of Sea Breeze, NC, a historically Black resort community that was an early site of integration in the Jim Crow South… And visit with some surfers at Mission Beach, San Diego.
May the Fourth Be with You: Mr. Sipp’s Blues and Sheryl Cormier’s Cajun Accordion
This 4th of July, we explore the varied meanings of American independence in words and music. We celebrate the diversity built into our country by digging into the musical traditions that inform our democracy at its best. We talk with Mr. Sipp, a hip blues and gospel man from McComb, Mississippi and Sheryl Cormier, the octogenarian Cajun accordion queen from Grand Coteau, Louisiana. Plus music from Bo Diddley, Big Maybelle, Bob Dylan, La Santa Cecilia, and Santana. In these tough times, May the Fourth be with us on American Routes.
Urge Congress: Save Public Media Funding
The White House is planning to release a proposal that would claw back already approved public media funding. If Congress agrees, your local stations could lose critical support – immediately.
Save your local stations. Urge your lawmakers to oppose the rescissions package.