It’s Halloween… a time of spirit and flesh, tricks and treats. We’ll hear from Houma Indian carver and instrument-maker, Ivy Billiot, about rougarou – or werewolves – and the spirit world. Then, Bentonia bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes tells us about the devil in daily life. Also, songs about murder, mayhem, and beings from beyond the stars… and beyond the grave. Plus music from Dr. John and Memphis Minnie, Hank Williams, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

We trace stardom back to its source, traversing the roots and routes that led small-town musicians to national fame. Pop icon Boz Scaggs and the late Cajun honky-tonk man Jimmy C. Newman took very different paths to the stage but carried with them the sounds they grew up hearing. Boz Scaggs achieved mainstream success with his own platinum records as well as his work with Steve Miller and Duane Allman. We talk to him about his 6+ years performing on the road and how he came into his own by reconnecting with the blues he heard as a kid in “Nowhere, Texas.” Then, we remember the late Jimmy C. Newman, who took the sounds of French Louisiana to the Grand Ole Opry and put Cajun music and culture on the map. Son Gary Newman, producer Joel Savoy and musician Kelli Jones tell of his legacy and their tribute album, Farewell, Alligator Man. Plus, we trace Hank Williams‘ “Jambalaya” back to its Cajun origins, served up with tunes from Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Professor Longhair.

Chuck Mead, co-founder of the legendary Nashville country rock band, BR549 tells tales of being born into a Kansas family of musicians with their own radio show and infiltrating his way into a whole new Nashville underground music, bar and dance scene. Then, conversation with Alice Gerrard, musician, advocate for old time music and known for her collaboration with West Virginia native Hazel Dickens as a rare female bluegrass duo in the 1960s. Plus music from Bob Dylan, Wanda Jackson, The Balfa Brothers and Johnny Shines.

It’s an American Routes live session with the Piano Prince of New Orleans, Davell Crawford, a fine singer and wily raconteur who grew up in Lafayette and New Orleans. We’ll also hear some of his and our piano heroes from South Louisiana and beyond: James Booker, Professor Longhair, and Ray Charles, as well as Davell’s grandfather, Sugar Boy Crawford. Then, it’s our tribute to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the second Monday of October, with an array of Native American voices and music from the Black Lodge Singers, Dennis Banks, Link Wray, and Redbone. Plus archival and current conversations with Assiniboine Cree Singers from Montana, French-speaking Houmas from Louisiana and vocal harmonies from the women of Ulali. 

This week on American Routes we’ll sample the sabor latino in American music. Join us for conversation with Los Lobos on their mix of American pop and Mexican traditions. We’ll visit Los Cenzontles, a community arts center in San Francisco dedicated to the teaching of Mexican music, and drop by a Philadelphia radio show spinning salsa hits for the neighborhood. Then we’ll sit in with pianist and bandleader Oscar Hernandez of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra for some Nuyorican beats and salsa moves. Plus a special performance by San Antonio’s queen of the conjunto accordion, Eva Ybarra.