American Routes syndicated public radio show

Stream online or find a radio station from the dropdown box at top of page. Easter Show airs weekend of April 4, 2026 and is archived at link.

Easter & Passover: Let Hope & Freedom Prevail


Apr 1, 2026

It’s songs for Easter, Passover and spring, to let hope prevail while we preserve freedom in these tough times. We’ve got songs of resurrection, liberation, rainy weather, and rabbit blues, with the voices of Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Bessie Smith, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Dr. John, Willie Nelson and Fats Domino. We’ll hear the “voice of the Holy Ghost” through the sacred steel stylings of Fran Grace (“Lady Strings”) and Nicolle “Nikki D” Brown from Toledo, Ohio. Then, we travel to North East Louisiana to witness the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble perform a spiritual ritual from enslaved Africans that combines Christian worship and the West African ring shout tradition.


HOUR ONE

Spirit in the Dark Aretha Franklin
Spirit in the Dark, Atlantic

Wait a Little Longer James Phelps and the Clefs of Calvary
Baptized!, Tru-Sound

Help Me Run this Race Otis Clay with the Gospel Songbirds
Jubilee Showcase, Rhythm & Light

It’s Raining Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas Collection: 1961-1966, Capitol

The Soul of a Man Irma Thomas
After the Rain, Rounder

Instrumental: It Might As Well Be Spring James Moody
At the Jazz Workshop, GRP

March Winds and April Showers Louis Prima, Joe “Wingy” Manone
The Complete Louis Prima and Wingy Manone Brunswick & Vocation Recordings, Vol 3, Sony

April in Paris Billie Holiday
All or Nothing at All, Verve

April Come She Will Simon & Garfunkel
Sounds of Silence, Columbia

Big Eyed Rabbit Tommy Jarrell & Fred Cockerham
Tommy & Fred, Country Records

Rabbit Stomp Rabbit Muse
Virginia Traditions: Western Piedmont Blues, Smithsonian Folkways

Little Rabbit Blues Johnny Hodges, The Ellington Men
The Big Sound, Verve

Instrumental: Bunny Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Hodges
Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges, Verve

Go Down, Moses Paul Robeson
Ballad for Americans, Vanguard Records

At the Feast (Of the Passover) The Congos
King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces from the Upsetter Ark-ive), Trojan Records

O Mary Don't You Weep Bruce Springsteen
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (American Land Edition), Columbia

SEGMENT: Fran Grace & Nikki D. Brown

End Bed: Let’s Dance
Fran E. Grace Lady Strings
Is It Well With Your Soul, Sacred Strings Records


HOUR TWO

Open Bed: When the Saints Go Marching In Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble
American Routes Original Recording

There’s a Higher Power The Easter Brothers
They’re Holding Up the Ladder, Rebel Records Llc

A Voice From On High The Stanley Brothers, the Clinch Mountain Boys
The Complete Mercury Recordings, Mercury

The Last Mile of the Way Sam Cooke, The Soul Stirrers
The Last Mile of the Way, Specialty

The Love of God (Take 3) The Soul Stirrers
Heaven Is My Home, Specialty

Two Little Fishes and Five Loaves of Bread Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Gospel of the Blues, Geffen

Instrumental: Honey Dripper Dr. John
Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Sundazed Music

Funny How Times Slips Away Dr. John
Things Happen That Way, Rounder

Gimme That Old Time Religion Dr. John, Willie Nelson
Things Happen That Way, Rounder

Down Yonder (We Go Balling) Snooks Eaglin
Snooks Eaglin The Imperial Recordings, Capitol

Blueberry Hill Fats Domino
Fats Dominos Swings, Imperial

Across the Borderline Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender: The Golden Voice of the Texas Gulf Coast, Gazell Records

El Mexicano-Americano Los Cenzontles
Con Su Permiso, Señores, Smithsonian Folkways

Instrumental: Wade in the Water Dr. John
Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Sundazed Music

On Revival Day (A Rhythmic Spiritual) Bessie Smith
The Essential Bessie Smith, Columbia

Jump Sister Bessie Otis Rush
The Essential Otis Rush, Cobra

Joy Myrna Summers
Now, Cotillion

SEGMENT: The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble

When the Saints Go Marching In
The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble
American Routes Original Recording

Oh David The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble
American Routes Original Recording

Two Wings The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble and the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters
American Routes Original Recording

I’ll Fly Away The Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble and the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters
American Routes Original Recording

End Bed: God So Loved the World Fran E. Grace Lady Strings
Is It Well With Your Soul, Sacred Strings Records
 
Day of God, Thou Blessed Day
 
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