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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STORIES FROM THE ROAD WITH BRANDI CARLILE & MESCHIYA LAKE

February 21st, 2018

We hit the open road to hear tales of adventure and woe from honky-tonkers and hobos, train-hoppers and busking bohemians. En route we talk with Washington folk singer Brandi Carlile, who dropped out of high school to cut it as a touring musician, and New Orleans’ Meschiya Lake, about her journey from circus performer to jazz chanteuse. Driving on in search of mythic America, we hear the voices of its discontents: Woody Guthrie, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Wilco and Pops Staples. Plus, we “Ramble On” with Lucinda Williams before coming down with a case of “Travelin’ Blues” from Jimmie Rodgers. By planes, trains and automobiles, we journey across our country’s musical landscape with stories from the road.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Somewhere Bill Frissell
    Big Sur, Okeh
  • I'm a Honky Tonk Girl Loretta Lynn
    Gold, MCA Nashville
  • Paper Wings Gillian Welch
    Boots No. 1 The Official Revival Bootleg, Acony
  • Settin' the Woods on Fire Hank Williams
    40 Greatest Hits, Mercury
  • Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way Waylon Jennings
    Dreaming My Dreams, RCA Victor
  • The Golden Age of Radio Josh Ritter
    Josh Ritter, self-released
  • Instrumental: Last Date Floyd Cramer
    Here's the Answer, RCA Victor
  • SEGMENT: Brandi Carlile

    Listen
  • The Sound of Silence Brandi Carlile with the Hanseroth Twins
    Live at Benaroya Hall, Columbia
  • America Simon & Garfunkel
    Bookends/Simon & Garfunkel, Columbia
  • Instrumental: Anji Simon & Garfunkel
    Simon & Garfunkel/Sounds of Silence, Columbia
  • Normal American Kids Wilco
    Schmilco, Anti-
  • Sin City Flying Burrito Brothers
    Gilded Palace of Sin, A&M Records
  • Dixie Flyer Randy Newman
    The Randy Newman Songbook, Nonesuch
  • Down in Mississippi Pops Staples
    Peace to the Neighborhood, Virgin
  • Mother Earth Tracy Nelson
    Mother Earth, Reprise
  • Closing Bed: Last Date Willie Mitchell
    Robbin's Nest, Hi Records

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Swipsey Cakewalk Tom McDermott and Evan Christopher
    Danza, STR Digital
  • I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About In My Song Mahalia Jackson
    The World's Greatest Gospel Singer, Columbia
  • Gimme a Pigfoot Bessie Smith
    The Bessie Smith Story- Volume 2, Columbia
  • Backwater Blues Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns
    Lucky Devil, self-released
  • Travelin' Blues Jimmie Rodgers
    Travelin' Blues, RCA Victor
  • Rapid City, South Dakota Kinky Friedman
    From One Good American to Another, Fruit of the Tune
  • Instrumental: Parlor for the Crawlers Leroy Jones
    Back to My Roots, LJ Records
  • SEGMENT: Meschiya Lake

    Listen
  • Railroad Lady- Live at the Dance Hall, Luckenbach, TX 1977 Jerry Jeff Walker
    A Man Must Carry On, UMG
  • Starlight on the Rails Utah Phillips
    Good Though, Philo
  • Instrumental: Dixie Flyer Blues DeFord Bailey
    Pan American Blues, Suncoast Music
  • Railroadin' Some Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas
    Going Away Blues, Shanachie
  • Goin' Up the Country Canned Heat
    Under My Heels, Hip-O
  • Ramblin' On My Mind Lucinda Williams
    Ramblin' , Smithsonian Folkways
  • Going Down the Road Feeling Bad Woody Guthrie
    The Asch Recordings, Smithsonian Folkways
  • Closing Bed: Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad Grateful Dead
    Ladies and Gentlemen: The Grateful Dead Live in NYC , Grateful Dead Records

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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