P RADIOPROMOTIONSNETWORKS SYNDICATIONAIRWAVESMUSIC VIDEOVIDEO MONITOR `American Routes' Gets To The Roots Program Is PRI's Fastest- Growing Syndicated Music Show BY BRADLEY BAMBARGER of classic rock'n'roll radio. Spitzer song style," Spitzer recalls, "and we NEW ORLEANS -Radio listeners grew up in rural Connecticut, where had Randy Newman doing his 'Mn. are often divided among those who he turned to radio as refuge from President, Please Have Pity On The prefer music and those who prefer "parental authority." Along with Working Man,' which is this sort of news. Yet as Nick Spitzer knows, affection for New York Yankee retro Louisiana populism voiced in a music has long been the vehicle for broadcasts, he developed an abiding West Coast version of Tin Pan Alley. news. Whether Indian chants or love for such vintage rock DJs as "Then there was Ray Charles urban raps, music has been the Murray the K and Matt Daddy. singing his R &B and crossover pop medium by which a society delivers Spitzer says their spinning of plat- hit `Busted,' which is this romanti- messages about itself to itself. ters by the likes of Fats Domino and cized vision of the working man," he "All the important ideas of a cul- Jerry Lee Lewis "helped me connect says. "There are thematic and sonic ture are voiced in its art," says to a wider musical culture, helped threads that join each of those songs. Spitzer, host and producer of "Amer- me visualize a world beyond Con- And, of course, they all speak to Too Much Heaven. WNNX (99X) Atlanta staffers cozy up to John Travolta dur- ican Routes," a weekly program necticut." nearly every listener, since most peo- ing his visit to the city. Shown, from left, are 99X PD Leslie Fram, Travolta, and based here, in which the nation's con- Illustrating a wider world and a ple know what it feels like to have 99X's Jimmy Baron and Barnes. tent is examined in the context of listener's connection to it has always been broke at one time or another." sounds from blues to bluegrass, Tin been a prime mission of public radio, Pan Alley to zydeco. one to which Spitzer feels especially NOT A NATIVE BUT A LOCAL the first two years, the "American vate (Community Coffee of Baton In one of his two -hour shows, close. "There seems to be an increas- A New England intellectual and Routes" team is set to produce 30 Rouge). The show rents its offices Spitzer might examine the way in ing emphasis on adopted Southerner, Spitzer says he new programs this year. Upcoming from the University of New Orleans, which cultural mores are reflected fragmentation in may not be a native, but he is "a broadcasts include a summer "back which provides certain infrastruc- via the singer/songwriter tradition our society, on local," speaking Louisiana French to the beach" show featuring surf - ture gratis. (Spitzer is an adjunct from Bob Dylan to Beck. Or he reinforcing narrow and knowing the area's Byzantine ins guitar god Dick Dale; there will also professor of cultural conservation at might explore the manner in which interests," he says. and outs from years of rooting be a rebroadcast of a segment the school.) the field hollers of black slaves and "Particularly, a lot around. He could have realistically Spitzer produced at the Smithsonian Selling any new show on public the late -'60s funk of James Brown of American musi- based "American Routes" in Austin, that had late Grateful Dead guitarist radio is an uphill climb, and "Ameri- each relayed information vital to the cal forms have his- Texas, or Sante Fe, N.M., but it is for Jerry Garcia discussing his influ- can Routes" trails such hit PRI African -American condition. Simi- toric relationships reasons both aesthetic and prag- ences in country and bluegrass. offerings as "The Savvy Traveler" "This Amer- larly, he can turn the manifold musi- SPITZER yet have been arti- matic that he has made the show the Artist and song selections for every (with 200 stations) and cal signifiers embodied in an age -old ficially separated only nationally syndicated public program are listed at american- ican Life" (400 and counting). But holiday like Mardi Gras or a many - for the purpose of marketing to var- radio program produced on the Gulf routes.org. Spitzer points out that it took seven hued metropolis like New York into a ious core classes and ethnicities. Coast. "American Routes" received seed years to get the iconic "Prairie Home sonic scenic tour. That may be considered economical- "There is obviously a rich musical money from the Corporation for Companion" out of Minnesota and On the air for two years, "Ameri- ly efficient, but it inhibits cultural heritage in New Orleans -jazz, Public Broadcasting, with subse- onto the airwaves nationwide. And can Routes" is the fastest -growing sharing. I hope we help show people R &B, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, rock - quent support coming from sources Dale Spear, PRI's director of pro- music show syndicated by Public not only what distinguishes them 'n'roll," Spitzer says. "Plus, we have both public (the Louisiana Endow- gramming, sees "American Routes" Radio International (PRI), with 111 from each other but what brings national artists who are rooted local- ment for the Humanities) and pri- (Continued on page 106) stations and some 300,000 listeners them together." ly, like Allen Toussaint and the per week. Many of the subscribing Neville Brothers. There is still this outlets are news /talk- oriented, and SETTING A MOOD ongoing mix of cultures as in the those who do air music are as likely Local roots -music shows are com- 19th century, with African and Latin BroadcastAmerica.com Plans to focus on classical as on jazz or folk mon, of course, although most of and French influences. And I'm a big styles. Spitzer, though, doesn't aim those are genre -focused, concen- believer in the Creole ideal, of build- for any one sort of listener, whether trating on the regional affinity ing new cultures out of the old. Wireless Streaming Of Audio news hound or jazz junkie. whether it be country or blues, for "Also, the city is relatively isolated "We don't want to preach to the instance. When Junior Brown was socially, which has its advantages and Internet portal BroadcastAmeri- computer to access Internet audio, choir," he says. "We want to spread featured on "American Routes," his disadvantages, but it means that ca.com is looking to take its radio and that's revolutionary," he says. the gospel." basis in both country and blues was great music still happens at a party clients into the world of wireless Brier also believes it will help underlined with aplomb. Likewise, a or parade here for the sheer love of Internet radio. broadcast radio compete against NONLINEAR DOCUMENTARY past show demonstrated George it -not with the idea that someone BroadcastAmerica COO/president other new technologies, saying it will But for all the revelations of Gershwin's use of not only jazz but might get a record contract," he says. John Brier says the company is be "a big blow to satellite radio." "American Routes," the program is klezmer. And a recent taping had Located next door to the historic working with a handful of technolo- The company has about half of neither Sunday sermon nor grad - Dolly Parton discussing the roots of Gallier House on Royal Street in the gy groups to develop a system that Citadel's stations on its client list, school seminar. It's a nonlinear doc- her Nashville art in Appalachian bal- heart of the French Quarter, the will allow its 515 stations to stream with the balance made up of smaller umentary in music. lads. "American Routes" headquarters its audio via developing wireless groups scattered around the coun- "Although the show can be But one of the peerless aspects of was home to a water -bottling plant technology. try. It has already signed 73 stations accessed on a deeper level, it rides "American Routes" is its way of both 150 years ago. The gulf in creative "This is what the future holds for to its new BroadcastUrban.com site. on sonic flow," Spitzer says. "It oper- setting a mood and discerning deep- atmosphere between this environ- Internet radio," says Brier, who adds Beyond radio, BroadcastAmerica ates at that dual level because we er meanings via apposite segues. ment and, say, a midtown Manhat- that consumer choice will be trans- is preparing to launch in late June a know that the best stuff is always One episode saw Spitzer highlight- tan office building is infinite. formed. "You'll be in your automobile service called Super V Billed as the both entertaining and educational. ing the mythic and musical connec- Beyond Spitzer, the staff includes and be able to listen to any station in first live, 24 -hour video music chan- We design the show so that you can tions among an old Tejano ranchera, production director Matt Sakakee- the world over the Internet; same nel on the Internet, Super V will be tune in for the interviews or just roll the vintage rockabilly number ny, contributing producer Katy thing in your home or on your cell based at studios in Boston. with the music, whichever you're into "Wooly Booly," and a contemporary Reckdahl, assistant producer Joel phone. It will truly transform the Brier says the company has most." Los Lobos track. And a Labor Day Rose, and production assistant way people can access content." already spent $1 million on the pro- The key to the character of show emphasized the common cause Kaori Maeyama.