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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SMALL TOWN BLUES: JEFF TWEEDY & JIMMY DUCK HOLMES

June 27th, 2018

Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy tells of the impact on his songs of growing up in the blue collar town, Belleville, Illinois. Music became his creative outlet in high school and lead to founding the seminal Americana band, Uncle Tupelo. We hear from Jeff in his Chicago studio “The Loft” about the emergence of Wilco and the place that making music has in his life, including work with Woody Guthrie’s lyrics and producing records with Mavis Staples. In Bentonia, Mississippi, playing blues and running the Blue Front Cafe, has been a lifetime role for guitarist Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. Duck talks about juke joints and moonshine in the Jim Crow South til now— and how he got the name Duck. We’ll also hear music of jukes, honky-tonks and nightclubs from Hank Williams and George Jones to Bessie Smith and Mary Lou Williams.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: That's Not the Issue Wilco
    Wilco A.M., Reprise
  • No Depression Uncle Tupelo
    No Depression, Rockville Records
  • Screen Door Uncle Tupelo
    No Depression, Rockville Records
  • Someday Soon Wilco
    Being There, Reprise
  • Sandusky Uncle Tupelo
    March 16-20, 1992, Rockville Records
  • SEGMENT: Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Airline to Heaven Billy Bragg and Wilco
    Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, Nonesuch
  • SEGMENT: Jeff Tweedy 2

    Listen
  • Do Re Mi Woody Guthrie
    Folkways: The Original Vision, Smithsonian Folkways
  • California Stars Wilco and Billy Bragg
    Mermaid Avenue, Nonesuch
  • Instrumental: Train Breakdown Woody Guthrie
    My Dusty Road, Rounder
  • SEGMENT: Jeff Tweedy 3

    Listen
  • Wilco (The Song) Wilco
    Wilco [The Album], Nonesuch
  • SEGMENT: Jeff Tweedy 4

    Listen
  • Normal American Kids Wilco
    Schmilco, dBpm Records
  • War on War Wilco
    Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Nonesuch
  • Country Disappear Wilco
    Wilco [The Album], Nonesuch
  • Closing Bed: Sandusky Uncle Tupelo
    March 16-20, 1992, Rockville Records

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Back at the Chicken Shack Jimmy Smith
    Back at the Chicken Shack, Blue Note
  • Chicken Shack Boogie Amos Milburn
    Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie: 1946-1955, Capitol
  • God's Own Jukebox Jessie Winchester
    Third Down and 110 to Go, Bearsville
  • Honky Tonkin' Hank Williams
    The Original Singles Collection... Plus, Polygram
  • Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On Big Maybelle
    The Complete OKeh Sessions 1953-'55, OKeh/Epic
  • Froggy Bottom Jimmy Witherspoon
    Goin' to Kansas City Blues, RCA
  • Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer Bessie Smith
    The Essential Bessie Smith, Sony Legacy
  • Instrumental: Froggy Bottom Mary Lou Williams
    Mary Lou Williams Trio 1944 Roll 'Em, Solo Art
  • White Lightning George Jones
    The Hits, Mercury
  • Moonshiner Uncle Tupelo
    89/93: An Anthology, Columbia/Legacy
  • Cherry Ball Blues Skip James
    The Complete Early Recordings, Yazoo
  • Hard Time Killing Floor Chris Thomas King
    O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Mercury
  • Instrumental: Juke Little Walter
    The Essential Little Walter, MCA
  • SEGMENT: Jimmy "Duck" Holmes

    Listen
  • Susie Que Dale Hawkins
    Guitar Player Presents Legends of Guitar- Rock: the '50s, Vol. 1, Rhino
  • Sister's Coming Home Willie Nelson
    The Complete Atlantic Sessions, Rhino
  • Small Town Talk Bobby Charles
    Bobby Charles , Rhino
  • Closing Bed: Rock House Parts I and II Ray Charles
    What'd I Say, Atlantic

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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