Music and insights on coffee and controlled substances that are mood fixers, elixirs, mental enhancers or downright downers. From Absinthe to Zoloft, listen in to hear what we brew up in this stimulating realm that's part of everyday life in America.

The music of Mardi Gras across the Americas, with glances at the history and customs surrounding it, featuring the sounds of New Orleans' famed celebration: brass bands, parades, Mardi Gras Indians, Creole cowboys and more. Music includes Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Ry Cooder, and Beau Jocque.

Scanning the dial in search of great voices, characters and shows that grace the airwaves locally and nationwide, today and yesterday. Included are an old-time country station based in a Mt. Airy, North Carolina log cabin, sounds from the US-Mexican Border, the mellow grit of New Orleans R & B, and Rev. Isiah’s “spiritual workshop” from Jackson, MS.

American Routes converses with the killer himself at his ranch in Nesbit, MS! In the aftermath of a fan frenzy event, it’s a back porch visit with Jerry Lee Lewis, the undisputed king of country boogie piano, about his historic bad-boy antics and his place in the history of rock and roll. Plus music that influenced Jerry Lee from his Delta boyhood in Ferriday Louisiana to his golden piano throne at Memphis Sun Records. Included are other great piano players like Fats Domino, Jelly Roll Morton, Moon Mullican and Ray Charles, as well as an original blues version of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Big Maybelle. Also avant piano sounds from Thelonius Monk and Medeski, Martin and Wood, and a tribute to the late king of zydeco nouveau accordion, Beau Jocque.