Listen Live on KKFI
Every Saturday 7:00amAbout the Show
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. Then, we look back to post-war England with session guitarist Albert Leewho grew up hearing American music on the radio and eventually crossed the pond to play rock & roll stateside. Plus, we explore the roots of rock with blues harpist Little Walter, western swingers Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys and rockabilly picker Carl Perkins.
