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American Routes
American Routes is a weekly two-hour public radio program produced in New Orleans, presenting a broad range of American music — blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical. Now in our 15th year on the air, American Routes explores the shared musical and cultural threads in these American styles and genres of music — and how they are distinguished.
We pay tribute to the late Fats Domino with our favorite of the New Orleans piano man’s Imperial releases. And we hear the Fat Man’s reflective side in a rare 2007 conversation with him about escaping Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters and how his faith saw him through. Veteran blues harp player Billy “Boy” Arnold tells of South Side Chicago’s early rhythm & blues scene, recording with Bo Diddley, and Fats Domino’s role in pushing black music across the color line into what would become rock & roll. Then, we catch up with a new generation of rockers, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, known for their live shows of Southern soul-inflected roots rock. We chat with Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers) about their solo careers, starting a family and a band, and life on the road together. Plus, hard-hitting R&B from Junior Parker, mighty gospel from Mahalia, and rockin’ soul from Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
