 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
American Routes
University of New Orleans
1118 Royal Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
mail@amroutes.org |
|
|
|
|
American
Routes 5th Anniversary
American Routes, the weekly
two-hour program devoted to blues, jazz, country, Cajun, gospel,
roots rock and soul - all from a New Orleans perspective - is
celebrating its fifth anniversary on the air. The program has
been hailed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
Billboard, and on ABC's Nightline and In Search
of America with Peter Jennings. Since its beginning on seven
stations in April 1998, the program has grown to reach 1/2 million
listeners on over 200 outlets from New York to Seattle, Boston
to Austin. American Routes is distributed nationwide
by Public Radio International.
American Routes host and creator Nick
Spitzer says, "In five years on the road we've been
able to bring the great diversity of American vernacular music
to a growing audience on public radio. I'm proud to have done
that from New Orleans as a musical and cultural setting without
equal."
On May 15 American Routes celebrated its fifth birthday in style
with a concert at the House of Blues New Orleans featuring Shemekia
Copeland, Keb' Mo', and a host of the Crescent City's finest
including Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Irma Thomas, and
Kermit Ruffins.
Click
here to see concert slide show.
2003 has been officially designated by Congress as the "Year
of the Blues" (YOTB),
an effort initiated by Seattle-based Experience
Music Project and the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, and
underwritten by Volkswagen. The Blues, a seven-part series
produced by Martin Scorsese, is airing on PBS in the Fall. Other
components include a traveling exhibit, comprehensive website,
education program, companion book; CDs and DVDs. The Blues
radio series is hosted by Keb' Mo' and produced by Ben Manilla,
creator the House of Blues radio programs, and Robert
Santelli, blues scholar and executive director of the Experience
Music Project museum.
"We are very excited to be sharing in a celebration that
really is about honoring American roots music," says Santelli.
"To celebrate both the fifth year anniversary of American
Routes' presence on public radio and the launch of the new
series, The Blues, is a testament to the strong listener
interest in this important influence on American culture."
American Routes will create several blues-specific programs
for YOTB including features on Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Warner
Williams and New Orleans jump blues king Deacon John. Host Nick
Spitzer is also serving on the YOTB
advisory board along with artists like Koko Taylor, BB King
and Bonnie Raitt, record company directors such as Bruce Iglaur
of Alligator Records, and folklorist Bill Ferris.
American Routes is underwritten by the National Endowment
for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana
Endowment for the Humanities, and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.
|
| |
| |
|
