Get your key to the highway… this American Routes looks at “the road” as destination, inspiration and home away from home in blues, country, jazz and more. Folkie and fellow traveler Ramblin’ Jack Elliot recalls the allure of the road in music and life. Plus, historian and author Douglas Brinkley joins us to speak on travel as muse for beat author Jack Kerouac and others.

Gifted singer Emmylou Harris takes a new trip down old country roads as the self-searching “Red Dirl Girl.” We speak with her about growing upbetween South and North, her days on the road with Gram Parsons, and her atmospheric music today. Also, the purposefully unrooted band Yo La Tengo of Hoboken, New Jersey, tracks their 15 years of luminous music and improvisatory life.

The musical and cultural meanderings of the Mississippi River, from exploration and trade to romance. Jazz, ragtime, and levee work-songs along with blues, rockabilly, gospel, and country. Guests include the late Memphis soul man Rufus Thomas and ethnomusicologist David Evans, speaking about influential Delta guitarist Charley Patton. Also, we visit a river barge pilot rolls on the river.