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This is American Routes, I’m Nick Spitzer. We’ll be traveling to southern France to meet that most American of cartoonists: the often beloved and sometimes reviled Robert Crumb, with his social criticism, politically incorrect and sexually explicit characters: Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, Flakey Foont and Angelfood McSpade–drawings and earthy dramas that made him the comic book king of the high hippie era. But R. Crumb is also deeply drawn to the nostalgia of old America heard on 78 RPM records. He’s collected over seven thousand of the platters.

Carlos Santana began playing mariachi on violin in the streets of Tijuana, but he was soon drawn to blues musicians: BB King, Jimmy Reed, and John Lee Hooker. At age 8, he switched to guitar and began developing his own sound, incorporating blues, rock, jazz, with Latin and African percussion. His father José Santana, a mariachi violinist, was not pleased, but allowed Carlos to follow his passions.

Woody Guthrie is remembered as much for his politics as his music. During the Depression and World War II, Guthrie was deeply affected by the plight of American workers and the Labor Movement, and his music reflects that sympathy. But Guthrie’s art was also shaped by his family and personal life, by the travails of his parents, by his own struggles as a husband and father, and ultimately by his own declining health. In this Labor Day edition of American Routes, we’ll examine the life and music of Woody Guthrie, in the words of family, friends and fellow travelers.

This is American Routes Live with New Orleans trombonist Corey Henry and his Treme Funktet at Marigny Studios, at the edge of the French Quarter. As the name of the band suggests, the Faubourg Tremé is an important part of Corey’s family history and his development as a musician. I asked him about the origins of the group.

Shemekia Copeland's dad, Texas guitarist Johnny Copeland, moved his family to Harlem, where Shemekia was born and grew up surrounded by hip-hop, but dedicated to the blues. She's been in the blues scene since she was a little girl singing at her dad's shows. We began back in those early days, on stage, with her father.

Who was Harry Smith? The short answer about the 20th century polymath and hustler might be divined in his legendary Anthology of American Folk Music from 1952, an LP collection of mostly Southern US folk music on 78rpm records. The Anthology established a cult of listening and influenced popular and folk revival artists from John Sebastian and the New Lost City Ramblers to rockers like Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and Beck. In addition to music recording and wide ranging research into tribal and other cultures, Harry Smith was a painter on canvas and on film. He was a profound thinker and worker in the American vernacular.

John Mayall and his band the Bluesbreakers pioneered British blues rock, introducing it to a larger audience. They included musicians who went on to join legendary bands like Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones. Mayall moved to the states in 1968 and had a discography of 70 studio and live albums. Before he passed in 2024, John called Los Angeles home and his favorite climate for living, but it was in Macclesfield, Cheshire where he first heard the blues.

This is American Routes for St. Patrick's, with singers, fiddlers and pickers from Ireland to Appalachia live in this hour, sharing Irish, bluegrass and country tunes with one another at the 80th National Folk Festival. Beginning with brothers Rob and Ronnie McCoury playing banjo and mandolin on stage in Salisbury, Maryland, 2021, with Ronnie's tune, " Quicksburg Rondevouz."

Today on Louisiana Considered, we dig into the back-and-forth between the 5th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court about the availability of Mifepristone via telehealth. We also dive into the latest population data on Louisiana, and chat with legendary Motown singer Martha Reeves about her life and career.

Flooding is the most common natural disaster — by far. As more and more towns are devastated by floods, people are facing the tough question of how to rebuild — or even if they can. In this episode, we travel to two towns to discover how one obscure federal policy designed to stop the cycle of flood damage is leading to opposite destinies.