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
New Orleans Jazz Banjo/Guitarist Danny Barker & American Routes Live with Detroit Brooks and his Syncopated Percolators
October 21, 2026
New Orleans musician and raconteur Danny Barker was a banjo and guitar hero—a major player in New York jazz who never forgot his French Creole roots in song and style. We look back on Danny's career, his life with wife and collaborator, the singer Blue Lu Barker, and his influence sustaining culture in the Crescent City. Then, current day guitar and banjo man, Detroit Brooks pays tribute to the Barker legacy with his band the Syncopated Percolators live at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
NEXT WEEK
I Put a Spell on You: Halloween '26
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 Area’s artsy punk rockers Shannon & the Clams as they tell of ghostly encounters, spirit animals and memories from Halloweens past. Plus, spooky chills and thrills from Miles Davis, Memphis Minnie and Hank Williams.
LAST WEEK
New Orleans Jazz & Baton Rouge Blues…With an Ethio-Jazz Excursion
We’ve got New Orleans jazz, Baton Rouge blues and Ethio-jazz played on keyboard and accordion by a former Washington D.C. cab driver, Hailu Mergia, who mixes Ethiopian music with jazz, funk and soul. Then, it’s a rare, intimate solo performance by Baton Rouge bluesman Lil Ray Neal, live at the West Baton Rouge Museum. Plus, music by Dr. John, Etta James, the Meters, Aretha Franklin, Big Mama Thornton and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.
Support Detroit Brooks
Our friend, guitar and banjo player Detroit Brooks, needs urgent support. Detroit is in the hospital with serious medical issues that have kept him from being able to play music, and he is now awaiting surgery.
Find out how you can help here.