unnamed AmRts FEB13We’re hitting the streets this week to celebrate – what else? – Mardi Gras! Even though we can’t celebrate as we usually do, we can still enjoy the sounds of Carnival seasons in years past. In this archive edition of American Routes, we meet parade float builders, visit the Backstreet Cultural Museum in Treme, discover a skull and bone gang and baby dolls, follow Mardi Gras Indians and learn why flamingos flock to Baton Rouge this time of year.

American Routes airs Saturdays at 2:00 pm on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

Find our complete programming schedule here. 

(Photo: via American Routes/WWNO)

littlefreddieking2 1611617754Blues: it’s a universal solvent in music. There are blues in jazz, R & B, roots rock and soul, country, Cajun, Latin, funk, hip-hop, rock, and pop… It’s everywhere! We’ll hear from all corners of the musical map including Bessie Smith, Buddy Guy, Freddy Fender and Clifton Chenier, and more. Then an hour with Octogenarian electric country bluesman Little Freddie King, live from Marigny Studios in New Orleans.

American Routes airs Saturdays at 2:00 pm on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

Find our complete programming schedule here. 

(Photo: via American Routes)

0a9449AR jan30We go live in concert and conversation with two New Orleans artists each of whom brings their family heritage forward into contemporary music. Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla has called New Orleans home for many years, but her family ties are to Haiti. She draws on French Creole roots for inspiration, as well as from the poetry of Langston Hughes. Then jazz saxophonist Big Chief Donald Harrison, whose musical journey includes time in New York with drummer Art Blakey’s band, talks about “Afro-New Orleans” culture and demonstrates how to bring soul, funk, and Black carnival traditions into modern jazz.

American Routes airs Saturdays at 2:00 pm on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

Find our complete programming schedule here. 

(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)

Dion 1611078088It's back to the Golden Age of doo-wop and classic songs of the era from Black and White groups. A conversation with Dion DiMucci, the Bronx born and raised singer who made his name first with his neighborhood group the Belmonts. We talk about his Italian American roots and his love of the blues, plus his life in music. Then, we explore the roads to doo-wop from gospel quartets, R&B, and jazz including songs by Sam Cooke, The Mills Brothers, and Jimmy Reed

American Routes airs Saturdays at 2:00 pm on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

Find our complete programming schedule here. 

(Photo: Dion Dimucci – Courtesy of the artist)

  1. American Routes Live: Creole Songlines of Leyla McCalla and Saxophonist Donald Harrison’s Jazz Journey – Saturday at 2pm
  2. Love Is Strange with Judy Collins and Jim Lauderdale on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm
  3. A Live Louisiana New Year’s Party with Cajun & Zydeco and New Orleans Piano & Song on American Routes – Friday at Noon
  4. Piano on a Truck and Guitars on Stage on American Routes – Friday at Noon
  5. Men of Steel and Soul: The Campbell Brothers & Walter Wolfman Washington on American Routes - Friday at Noon
  6. American Routes Live: Cajun Troubadour Zachary Richard and New Orleans Creole Jazzman Don Vappie – Friday at Noon

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American Routes

May 07, 2021

Guilty Pleasures Deluxe on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm  

Somewhere on our journey over the past two decades at American Routes, we started talking about “guilty pleasures” shows, where old free form radio roots called for the pleasure of old favorites and new discoveries. But since we broadcast from New Orleans, we’ll drop the word guilty and roll on…
April 30, 2021

Soul Sisters on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm  

We talk to three soul singers from the formative era of the mid-1950s through Motown of the late 60s, and an all-female New Orleans brass band. Justine “Baby” Washington talks about growing up in Harlem and her hits such as “That’s How Heartaches Are Made.” Maxine Brown started as a teenager in NYC…
March 26, 2021

Sweet Inspiration: Dan Penn & Trudy Lynn on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm

Singer-Songwriter Dan Penn is the master behind so many well-loved R&B songs, from James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet” to Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and Alex Chilton and the Box Tops “Cry Like a Baby,” and many more. We’ll talk with him about his prolific catalog of…

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