American Routes: Songs and Stories from the Road by Nick Spitzer, Various

Synopsis

In his weekly radio program heard on NPR, folklorist Spitzer leads listeners on a lively journey through American music and the evolution of its many styles from A (avant-garde) to Z (zydeco).

Even in divisive times, there's one thing about America everyone loves: its music. Produced in New Orleans, American Routes embraces and explores all kinds of American music: blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical.

Each week, program host and creator Nick Spitzer talks with well-known artists, lesser-known studio musicians, and little-known buskers. Songs, stories, interviews, and conversations reveal the origins of American music, musicians, and cultures (the roots) and the many directions they have taken over time (the routes). The show pays tribute to historic heroes, celebrates great musicians of today, and hits the road, traveling from street parades to juke joints, bayous to beltways.

Featured segments include Dave Brubeck, Tom Waits, Dolly Parton, the Antique Radio Museum, Feufollet, and Jerry Garcia—a unique and vivid soundtrack to American life.

Susan G. Baird - Library Journal

In the New Orleans-based radio program American Routes(www.americanroutes.org), host Spitzer travels the United States tracing our musical roots. He covers various musical styles-from blues and jazz to country and Cajun-via interviews, performances, and delightful stories that make the music come alive. This collection reflects the show's first ten years and features luminaries including Nina Simone, Jerry Garcia, and Tito Puente. Spitzer is an excellent raconteur and a charming interviewer. Essential for all public libraries and for academic and special libraries collecting music history. [Audio clip available through www.highbridgeaudio.com.-Ed.]

Biography

Nick Spitzer is an internationally recognized folklorist. He has served as a documentary, record, film, and festival producer for the Smithsonian Institution and PBS, and as an independent cultural producer for NPR's All Things Considered. He is on faculty at the University of New Orleans.