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.

  • Info
  • ABOUT
  • BEST OF
  • UPCOMING
  • ARCHIVE
  • SUPPORT
  • JOURNAL
  • STATIONS
  • MEDIA KIT
  • INDEX
  • STAFF
  • CONTACT
BROWSE BY DATE
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003
  • 2002
  • 2001
  • 2000
  • 1999
  • 1998

SUPPORT GREAT STORYTELLING

We rely on your support to remain on air and online. Your contribution helps us bring you interviews with great American artists and the carefully curated music mix that you’ve enjoyed over the years.

Donate

 

AMERICAN ROUTES ON INSTAGRAM

ALABAMA BOUND

March 4th, 2015

American Routes takes a trip through the music of the Yellowhammer State—Alabama. Visit the Muscle Shoals Sound studio and find out what’s in the water around “the Shoals” to make it a historic hotbed for R&B hits by Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and more. Also, a trip through Hank Williams’ childhood home in Georgiana, and W.C. Handy Music Festival in Florence. And music from Shelby Lynne, the Birmingham Sunlights and the Delmore Brothers.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Sweet Home Alabama Mark Thornton
    Bluegrass Then and Now 25th Anniversary, CMH
  • Old Alabama B.B and Group
    Prison Songs Vol.1: Murderous Home, Rounder
  • The Last Words of Copernicus Sacred Harp Singers
    Southern Journey Vol.1: Voices from the South, Rounder
  • Alabama The Louvin Brothers
    The Louvin Brothers: Tragic Songs of Life, Capitol
  • Alabama Cowboy Copas
    30 Country Hits: History of Country Music, Gusto
  • When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabama Jubilaires
    Freedom's Front Door: Music of the Ellis Island Era 1900-1930, Soundies
  • Instrumental: Tuxedo Junction Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra
    Masters of Jazz Vol.3: Big Bands of the '30s & '40s, Rhino
  • excerpt: Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round SNCC Freedom Singers
    Freedom Songs: Selma, Alabama, Folkways
  • Rough and Rocky Road Heavenly Gospel Singers
    Birmingham Quartet Anthology, Clanka Lanka
  • It's Gonna Rain Birmingham Sunlights
    Folk Masters, Smithsonian Folkways
  • Betty's Place Willie King
    I Am the Blues, Willie King
  • They Call Me Big Mama Big Mama Thornton
    Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings, MCA
  • Dark End of the Street Dan Penn
    Do Right Man, Proper
  • You Left the Water Running Otis Redding
    The Muscle Shoals Sound, Rhino
  • Instrumental: Dark End of the Street Ry Cooder
    Boomer's Boy, Reprise
  • SEGMENT: Muscle Shoals Sound

    Listen
  • End Bed: Funky Broadway Jimmy Smith
    Walk on the Wild Side, Verve
  • I'm Alabama Bound Jelly Roll Morton
    The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax, Rounder
  • Montgomery in the Rain Steve Young
    Seven Bridges Road, A&M

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Medley Excelsior Band of Mobile
    Traditional Musics of Alabama, Vol. 1, AFA
  • SEGMENT: W.C. Handy Festival

    Listen
  • Yellow Dog Blues Louis Armstrong
    Plays W.C. Handy, Columbia/ Legacy
  • Stars Fell on Alabama Billie Holiday
    The Lady in Autumn: The Best of the Verve Years, Verve
  • Birmingham Randy Newman
    Good Old Boys, Reprise
  • CLIP: Shelby Lynne
  • Where I'm From Shelby Lynne
    I Am Shelby Lynne, Mercury
  • Instrumental: Fattening Frogs For Snakes Mobile Strugglers
    Mobile Strugglers & Louis James' String Band, American Music
  • Lost Highway Hank Williams
    The Original Singles Collection... Plus, Polygram
  • 72 (This Highway's Mean) Drive-By Truckers
    Southern Rock Opera, Lost Highway
  • Instrumental: Cold Cold Heart The Original Drifting Cowboys Band
    Hank Williams Instrumentals, Landmark
  • SEGMENT: Hank Williams Boyhood Home and Museum

    Listen
  • Pan American Hank Williams
    The Original Singles Collection... Plus, Polygram
  • I Saw the Light The Five Blind Boys of Alabama
    I Saw the Light, Liquid 8
  • I'm Going Back To Alabama The Delmore Brothers
    Delmore Brothers, Vol.2: Later Years 1933-1952, JSP
  • Oh, Suzanna Tony Schwartz
    Camptown Races, Tony Schwartz

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 29th, 2022

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

    Listen
  • June 22nd, 2022

    EARL SCRUGGS & TOM RUSH

    Listen
  • June 15th, 2022

    SOUNDS OF FREEDOM: FONTELLA BASS AND FREDDIE HUBBARD

    Listen
A|R

  • Donate
A|R AMERICAN ROUTES
  • ABOUT
  • BEST OF
  • ARCHIVE
  • UPCOMING
  • SUPPORT US
  • JOURNAL
  • STATIONS
  • STAFF
  • CONTACT
  • Tulane University
  • NEA
  • PRX