Photo by Rusty Constanza, courtesy of Nick Spitzer.
Nick Spitzer—radio host of American Routes, who has been chronicling American Music in its many forms for decades.
In this episode of DETOURS, Jordan, Alex, and contributor John Wirt sit down with host of NPR's nationally-syndicated American Routes Nick Spitzer to discuss his career chronicling American music, particularly Louisiana's. Nick shares his tips for cultivating intimacy and trust in interviews with the three journalists, as well as countless tales from his conversations with American music legends from the Grateful Dead and Carlos Santana to Dewey Balfa and Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin. He also fills us in on why he won't be running for governor of Louisiana anytime soon.
Where the Route Has Taken Nick Spitzer
Reading/Listening List
Here, find articles, interviews, and other materials that we either mentioned in the episode, or that we think might enrich and/or further the conversations we had.
Wherever the Route Takes You: Champion of American music Nick Spitzer is a master of storytelling, preservation, and transmission
Read John Wirt's original profile on Nick Spitzer from our September 2023 Fortieth Anniversary Issue.
Image courtesy of Spitzer.
Nick Spitzer interviewing Zydeco icon Boozoo Chavis in Dog Hill, Louisiana in 1991.
Listen to NPR's American Routes
Hear the nationally-syndicated program Spitzer hosts, produced in New Orleans to chronicle American music since 1998.
Image courtesy of Spitzer.
Nick Spitzer interviewing Hezikiah Early in Natchez, Mississippi in 2018.
Nick Spitzer interviews John Baez on American Routes
Partial clip, originally recorded April 21, 2017.
Courtesy of Heinrich Klaffs via Wikimedia Commons
Joen Baez performing in 1973.
Nick Spitzer Interviews Carlos Santana on American Routes
Partial clip, originally aired October 7, 2022.
Courtesy of Heinrich Klaffs via Wikimedia Commons
Carlos Santana performing in Hamburg.
Nick Spitzer interviews John Prine on American Routes
Originally aired April 17, 2020.
Texas Almanac's story on Willie Nelson and Austin-KOKE FM
Read about Austin-KOKE FM, the radio station that coined the phrase "progressive country," where Nick Spitzer worked early in his career and interviewed Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Commander Cody.
Explore the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Center for Louisiana Studies Archival Collections
Including Spitzer's early interview recordings with Cajun and Creole musicians in Evangeline Parish.
Huey “Piano” Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues
Find a copy of John Wirt's 2014 book from LSU Press about the New Orleans legend.
Huey Piano Smith
Ruth Laney's review of John Wirt's book Huey "Piano" Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues
From the December 2014 issue of Country Roads.
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot's review of Ron Stanford's book BIG FRENCH DANCE
From the September 2019 issue of Country Roads.
Nick Spitzer's notes on Canray Fontenot and Bois Sec Ardoin
Recorded in 1976, as published at folkstreams.net.
John Wirt's story on seven up-and-coming Baton Rouge blues musicians
From the February 2022 Music Issue of Country Roads.
Raegan Labat
Meet the Capitol region’s up-and-coming blues musicians, photographed at the iconic Teddy’s Juke Joint. From left to right: Chris Roberts, Rudolph Valentine Richard III, Leroy Bishop Toussaint, John Wiese, Carter Wilkinson, and Johnathan James. Matthew Givens not pictured.
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot's story on the next generation of Cajun women musicians
From the February 2023 music issue.
Olivia Perillo
On stages across Acadiana and beyond, these women have been making waves as the leaders of their generation of Cajun musicians. From left to right: Julie Babineaux, Gracie Babineaux, Amelia Powell, Adeline Miller, and Renée Reed.
Baton Rouge Blues Festival
Learn more about the free spring festival dedicated to preserving Louisiana blues music.
Christie Matherne Hall's story on the origins of Baton Rouge's Spanish Town Parade
Published in 2016 and again in September 2023 as part of Country Roads' "Forty Stories from Forty Years" collection.
Cover image by Collin Richie; Story by Christie Matherne Hall.
Country Roads February 2016 Cover and Story on the Spanish Town Parade
In the February 2016 issue of Country Roads, writer Christie Matherne Hall explored the history of Baton Rouge's Spanish Town Parade.
Folkways of the Lost Lands: Maida Owens leads the way in preserving Louisiana culture in the age of the climate crisis
Read Chris Turner-Neal's profile on "Louisiana Folklife Lady" Maida Owens from our September 2023 Fortieth Anniversary Issue.
Lucie Monk Carter
Louisiana folklorist Maida Owens has spent decades fighting to preserve Louisiana folkways.
DETOURS Season 2, Episode 6: Maida Owens, the "Louisiana Folklife Lady"
Listen to our episode featuring Maida Owens, another one of the culture bearers profiled for our Fortieth Anniversary Issue, from earlier in Season 2.
Meet Your Co-Hosts
Photo by Raegan Labat
James Fox-Smith
James Fox-Smith is the Publisher of Country Roads magazine, and has been on the masthead since 1995 when he followed a Louisiana girl (Country Roads' Associate Publisher Ashley Fox-Smith) to her hometown of St. Francisville to take over her mother's magazine. The past two decades have made this Aussie into a true Louisianan, as passionate and knowledgable about the intricacies of this region's culture as any bayou-born Cajun. Overseeing the company for much of its forty-year history, he's worn almost every hat the magazine has to offer, from sales to editorial to marketing—and writes a monthly publisher's column, titled "Reflections" which you can peruse, here. You also might catch him hosting the Louisiana Public Broadcasting's weekly series Art Rocks!—which spotlights artists, performance, culture, literature, history and the impact of art in our world.
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot is the Managing Editor of Country Roads magazine, and has been a part of the editorial team since 2018. Born and raised in the heart of Acadiana, she came to Country Roads with a passion for Louisiana storytelling. She holds a degree in English from Louisiana State University, where she received the 2018 Sarah Sue Goldsmith Award for Nonfiction. In addition to her work at Country Roads, she has published stories in regional and international publications including inRegister, Atlas Obscura, and the Oxford American. Her first book Home of the Happy: A murder on the Cajun Prairie, will be published by Mariner Books in 2025.
Alexandra Kennon
Alexandra Kennon is the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Country Roads since 2020, and has been writing and photographing stories about Southern culture, cuisine, history, and art for the magazine since 2016. She holds degrees in Journalism and Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans, where she was Managing Editor of Pacemaker-winning university newspaper The Maroon, and could typically be found flitting between the newsroom and black box theatre. She has acted in productions ranging from independent festival films to Tennessee Williams world-premiere stage productions, and previously led historical, culinary, and cultural tours of New Orleans. Her book Classic Restaurants of New Orleans, published by Arcadia/The History Press with a foreword by Walter Isaacson, is available most places one finds books.
