Working class, self-styled and always opinionated, the late King of Bluegrass Jimmy Martin talks guitar-picking, hunting dogs and the Opry. And singer of songs Percy Sledge recalls going from hospital orderly to Atlantic Records soul singer with “When a Man Loves a Woman.”

Singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III walks us through his long career that began in the ’60s folk scene. Also, a live set from the South Carolina Blues Doctor Drink Small.

The spirit of the late Civil Rights leader informs this bittersweet, but uplifting look back and ahead. Includes jazz pianist McCoy Tyner's reflections on great  piano "professors,"  his own life in the avant-garde, and his musical and spiritual associations with the legendary late saxophonist John Coltrane. Plus a visit with jazz and classical composer/performer Hannibal Lokumbe regarding his "African Portraits" with the Chicago Symphony. 

American Routes combats cold, dark winter days with music and stories to keep you warm.  Virtuoso fiddler/violinist Mark O'Connor discusses his latest composition, American Seasons. Seamus Egan and Win Horan of the Irish-American band Solas take a musical journey from Philadelphia and Brooklyn to Ireland, and back.  Plus Mae Nagark on Eskimo music from the Inupiat village near Barrow, Alaska.