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
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and Beyond
January 7, 2026
We’re going “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” as the 1920s Tin Pan Alley pop song had it. It’s one of many songs written about our home place. We’ll hear some of those and go beyond to blues and jazz, roots rock and soul, gospel and country, Tejano, zydeco and swamp pop. We offer a diverse mix with Charley Pride, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Adia Victoria, Aretha Franklin and Louis Armstrong, with sounds ranging from critique to guilty pleasures.
NEXT WEEK
MLK Day with the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was first shared in words. We’ll hear it in music from the Staple Singers, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and Bob Dylan, plus classic jazz, reggae and a new generation of singers: the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Norah Jones and Questlove. Then, songs, rhythms and histories from the Georgia Sea Islands Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters.
New Year's with Mr. Sipp’s Blues and Sheryl Cormier’s Cajun Accordion
For New Year's, 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, ring in the New Year with us on American Routes.
Remembering Joe Ely & Raul Malo
Joe Ely, the West Texas songmaker and seminal figure of the Austin Cosmic Cowboy scene, passed away on December 15, 2025.
Raul Malo, the Miami-born and Cuban-descended singer and leader of The Mavericks, known for country, pop and roots rock, passed away on December 8, 2025.