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
Rockabilly Rascal Chuck Mead & Heralding the Folk with Alice Gerrard
October 15, 2025
Chuck Mead, co-founder of the legendary Nashville country rock band, BR549 tells tales of being born into a Kansas family of musicians with their own radio show and infiltrating his way into a whole new Nashville underground music, bar and dance scene. Then, conversation with Alice Gerrard, musician, advocate for old time music and known for her collaboration with West Virginia native Hazel Dickens as a rare female bluegrass duo in the 1960s. Plus music from Bob Dylan, Wanda Jackson, The Balfa Brothers and Johnny Shines.
NEXT WEEK
Rock Routes and Cajun Stardom: Boz Scaggs and Jimmy C. Newman
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 Cajun honky-tonk man Jimmy C. Newman took very different paths to the stage but carried with them the sounds they grew up hearing. Boz Scaggs achieved mainstream success with his own platinum records as well as his work with Steve Miller and Duane Allman. We talk to him about his 6+ years performing on the road and how he came into his own by reconnecting with the blues he heard as a kid in “Nowhere, Texas.” Then, we remember the late Jimmy C. Newman, who took the sounds of French Louisiana to the Grand Ole Opry and put Cajun music and culture on the map. Son Gary Newman, producer Joel Savoy and musician Kelli Jones tell of his legacy and their tribute album, Farewell, Alligator Man. Plus, we trace Hank Williams‘ “Jambalaya” back to its Cajun origins, served up with tunes from Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Professor Longhair
Live with Piano Prince Davell Crawford and Native American Songs and Sounds from Pow-Wow to Pop
It’s an American Routes live session with the Piano Prince of New Orleans, Davell Crawford, a fine singer and wily raconteur who grew up in Lafayette and New Orleans. We’ll also hear some of his and our piano heroes from South Louisiana and beyond: James Booker, Professor Longhair, and Ray Charles, as well as Davell’s grandfather, Sugar Boy Crawford. Then, it’s our tribute to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the second Monday of October, with an array of Native American voices and music from the Black Lodge Singers, Dennis Banks, Link Wray, and Redbone. Plus archival and current conversations with Assiniboine Cree Singers from Montana, French-speaking Houmas from Louisiana and vocal harmonies from the women of Ulali.
Remembering Flaco Jiménez & Eddie Palmieri
Flaco Jiménez, king of the conjunto accordion, passed away Thursday, July 31, at age 86.
Nuyorican jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri passed away on Wednesday, August 6, at the age of 88.
You can find our interviews with Flaco Jiménez and Eddie Palmieri here.