This week on American Routes, we’ll first take a tour of the Lewis Family Museum and liquor store in Ferriday, LA, where Jerry Lee Lewis’ sister Frankie Jean shows us around their family home. Then we’ll visit with the mayor of Ferriday and others who remember Haney’s Big House, which burned down in 1966. Across the river in Natchez, MS, bluesman Hezekiah Early looks back on playing in Haney’s house band. Back down in New Orleans, we’ll talk with Treme Brass Band’s leader and snare drummer Benny Jones and bass drummer Joe Lastie about their late drummer and friend Uncle Lionel Batiste.

This Independence Day, we’ll celebrate music of New Orleans, Mississippi & French Louisiana. Recorded live at New Orleans’ Civic Theatre, we’ll be joined by New Orleans clarinetist Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band; fellow NEA Heritage recipient and Cajun fiddler Michael Doucet with his band BeauSoleil; the downhome blues of McComb, Mississippi’s Little Freddie King; and the spirit-filled gospel of Electrifying Crown Seekers from New Orleans’ West Bank. Our special guest is beloved jazz vocalist Topsy Chapman. Join us for a holiday edition of the new American Routes Live series.