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
Thanksgiving with the 2024 National Heritage Fellows
November 27, 2024
This Thanksgiving, we celebrate the 2024 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows. Each year since 1982, the program has recognized artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to the nation's traditional arts heritage. This year’s fellows include rockabilly country musician, Rosie Flores; carousel restorationist, Todd Goings; Cambodian dancer and costume maker, Sochietah Ung; Chicago tap dancer, Bril Barrett; Arkansas community activist, Pat Johnson; Navajo/Diné quilter, Susan Hudson; Gwich’in fiddler, Trimble Gilbert; Zuni dancers and singers, the Zuni Olla Maidens; Chicano muralist from Los Angeles, Fabian Debora; and koto player, June Kuramoto. Plus, music from past fellows, including live sets from New Orleans’ clarinetist, Dr. Michael White, Cajun fiddler Michael Doucet and his band, BeauSoleil, and sacred steel masters, the Campbell Brothers.
NEXT WEEK
North American Routes from South Louisiana to Cape Breton with the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band and Beòlach
We’re rolling out New Orleans Creole and Cajun Francité and soul. We’ll hear music from The Meters, Kid Ory, and Carol Fran… plus the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band live at the French Market in New Orleans. Then, we head to Cape Breton Island in Maritime Canada for a visit with fiddler Wendy MacIsaac of the band Beòlach, along with other Nova Scotia Scots Gaelic classics… and finally some down home American folks.
LAST WEEK
Reimagining Kentucky Country Music & New Orleans Jazz with Kelsey Waldon and Aurora Nealand
Country singer Kelsey Waldon grew up in the Ohio River bottoms of Ballard County Kentucky– a place called “Monkey’s Eyebrow” where her family has farmed for generations. She tells us about her journey as a songwriter, and her friendship with another hero of Kentucky, John Prine. Then a live set of New Orleans jazz and its Caribbean cousins with the widely acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, Aurora Nealand and her quartet at Artisound Studios in New Orleans 9th Ward.
