AMERICAN ROUTES
May the Fourth Be With Us! American Routes Independence Day Then & Now May the Fourth Be With Us! American Routes Independence Day Then & Now June 29th, 2022 (Hour 1)
May the Fourth Be With Us! American Routes Independence Day Then & Now

This July 4th weekend, we dive into the record crates to bring you music of celebration, hope and critique from Nina Simone, Randy Newman, Sly Stone and Jon Batiste. Then, the July 4th roots of American Routes as we go back to the 1990s, deep in the archive, for highlights from The American Roots Independence Day concerts at the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Join us for spectacular stage performances by the urbane blues hero Charles Brown, the Texas Playboys with Johnny Gimble playing Western swing, Mexican-American Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Young Tuxedo Brass with New Orleans jazz, and Hawaiian music and song of slack-key guitar master Ledward Kaapana.

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DELTA DAILY LIFE

April 20th, 2005

A musical return to that fount of styles called the blues as we take a tour of the Mississippi Delta, and also visit kinfolk in Memphis, Chicago, and Oakland. We’ll hear about blues roots and routes in conversations with singer Little Milton, Delta Deejay Early Wright — famous for his “snake alerts” — and at a Clarksdale, Mississippi, barbershop where stropping the razor to a beat is an art form.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Crossroads Hound Dog Taylor
    Genuine Houserocking Music, Alligator
  • Polk Salad Annie Tony Joe White
    The Best of, Warner
  • Highway 61 Blues Jack Kelley & his S. Memphis Jug Band
    Violin, Sing the Blues for Me, Old Hat
  • Jug Band Music Lucinda Williams
    Ramblin', Smithsonian Folkways
  • Down Home Girl The Coasters
    50 Coastin Classics, Rhino
  • INTERVIEW: Blues Barber Wade Walton

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Sad Hours Little Walter
    His Best, MCA/Chess
  • Death Letter Son House
    Blues masters, Vol.7, Rhino
  • Death Letter Cassandra Wilson
    Visions of Jazz: The First Century, Blue Note
  • Can't Hardly Stand It Charlie Feathers
    Get With It, Revenant
  • Shake ‘Em On Down R.L. Burnside
    Too Bad Jim, Fat Possum
  • Instrumental:“Feelin’ Bad Blues Ry Cooder
    Music By Ry Cooder, Warner
  • INTERVIEW: Little Milton

    Listen
  • Lookin' For My Baby Little Milton
    The Sun Masters, Rounder
  • Ol' Man River Gene Ammons
  • Ol' Man River Kenneth Spencer w/full orchestra & chorus
    Showboat: 1946 Broadway Revival Cast, Sony

HOUR two

  • Long John Lightning and Group
    Afro-American Spiritual, Work-Songs And Ballads, Rounder
  • Our Father Five Blind Boys of Mississippi
    Jubilation Vol.2, Rhino
  • Down in Mississippi Pops Staples
    Peace to the Neighborhood, PointBlank
  • Oh Freedom Hollis Watkins
    Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, Smithsonian-Folkways
  • Change Is Gonna Come Otis Redding
    Otis! - The Definitive Redding, vol. 1, Rhino
  • Instrumental: Call Him By His Name Glenn Lee
    Sacred Steel, Arhoolie
  • Natchez Mississippi Blues Lewis Brozeville Five
    The Jive is Jumpin: Vocal Groups, WestSide
  • The Natchez Burnin' Howlin' Wolf
    The Chess Box, MCA
  • Love in Vain Rolling Stones
    Let It Bleed, ABKCO
  • Honky Tonk Women Ike&Tina Turner
    The Best Of, EMI
  • INTERVIEW: Early Wright

    Listen
  • West Memphis Blues Sonny Boy Williamson II
    King Biscuit Time, Arhoolie
  • Roll Over Beethoven Carl Perkins
    The Classic, Bear Family
  • Instrumental: Sunshine Twist (You are My Sunshine) Jellyroll Kings
    Rockin' The Juke Joint Down, Earwig
  • Catfish Blues Taj Mahal/Toumani Diabate
    Kulanjan, Hannibal
  • Crawdad Hole Jessie Mae Hemphill
    She-Wolf, Highwater/HMG
  • My Home is in the Delta Buddy Guy & Junior Wells
    Alone & Acoustic, Alligator
  • Mississippi Delta Blues Jimmie Rodgers
    Last Sessions, Rounder
  • Delta Bound Duke Ellington Orchestra featuring Ivie Anderson

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 29th, 2022

    MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH US! AMERICAN ROUTES INDEPENDENCE DAY THEN & NOW

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  • June 22nd, 2022

    EARL SCRUGGS & TOM RUSH

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  • June 15th, 2022

    SOUNDS OF FREEDOM: FONTELLA BASS AND FREDDIE HUBBARD

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