American Routes
American Routes • "Songs and stories that cross the map of American music." 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 12th 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.
“In the history of American radio, no series has come close to Nick Spitzer’s American Routes in exploring the many streams of this nation’s music.” — Nat Hentoff, Wall Street Journal
The program also presents documentary features and artist interviews. Our conversations include Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, B.B. King, Dr. John, Dave Brubeck, Abbey Lincoln, Elvis Costello, Ray Charles, Randy Newman, McCoy Tyner, Lucinda Williams, Rufus Thomas, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others. Join us as we ride legendary trains, or visit street parades, instrument-makers, roadside attractions and juke joints, and meet tap dancers, fishermen, fortunetellers and more.
The songs and stories on American Routes describe both the community origins of our music, musicians and cultures — the “roots”— and the many directions they take over time — the “routes.”
Nick Spitzer, the producer and host of American Routes, is a folklorist and a professor of anthropology and American studies at Tulane University. Nick specializes in American music and the cultures of the Gulf South, and received a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Texas in 1986 with his dissertation on zydeco music and Afro-French Louisiana culture and identities.
American Routes, which is distributed by American Public Media, reaches nearly a million listeners each week on over 225 stations and via its website. • TO LISTEN CLICK HERE
American Routes Staff and Contributing Producers
• Nick Spitzer , Host and Producer
• Maureen Loughran , Senior Producer
• Kaori Maeyama , Managing Producer
• Bill Deputy , Producer and Technical Director
• Lauren Callihan , Development Associate
• Jason Saul , Research and Production Associate
• Leidy Cook , Program Assistant
• Margaret Howze , Contributing Producer
• Emily Botein , Contributing Producer
• Joel Rose , Contributing Producer
• Matt Sakakeeny , Contributing Producer
• Mary Beth Kirchner , Founding Executive Producer
LINKS
FaceBook • www.facebook.com/americanroutes
Mailing List • http://bit.ly/mFiDfU
Support • www.americanroutes.publicradio.org/support/
Contact • www.americanroutes.publicradio.org/contact/
Stations • www.americanroutes.publicradio.org/stations/
WebSite • www.americanroutes.publicradio.org
Twitter • www.twitter.com/americanroutes
News/Blog • www.americanroutes.publicradio.org/press/
Amazon • http://amzn.to/k1pHlA
WikiPedia • www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Routes
ARTICLES, SOURCES & RELATED LINKS
• Nick Spitzer on How Music Can Brighten Your Mood
• American Routes: Songs and Stories from the Road • CD
• American Routes celebrating its 10th anniversary
• INTRODUCE The AcoustiCana Journal to FaceBook FRIENDS by clicking on the "SHARE" button at • www.tinyurl.com/acj-like-share • and help them discover this emerging American acoustic musical genre with roots in Old-Time, Bluegrass, Country, Blues, & Americana, and the prodigious group of artists bringing it to the forefront of American Music & Culture today. Thank YOU!
