Words and Music, Crafts and Costumes, Ritual and... Radio: The Power of Old Media in New Orleans

In a conference devoted to the wide and dazzling array of new media in relationship to intimate community life in New Orleans and elsewhere, much of what may be extended in the classroom, broadcast or global networks comes from original human forms of expression. The implications of which are: pre-modern forms of artistic communication still speak to us, old modern forms like radio offer time-tested models of extending oral tradition and traditional aesthetics, and new media at their best often aim to recreate and create anew community experiences that we may feel are lost when the market-drivenrush to new technology values form and efficiency over content.

Nick Spitzer is the host of American Routes , the radio program from New Orleans devoted to the sources and symbols of blues and jazz, country and gospel, roots rock and soul, as well as related ethnic, regional, popular and classical styles of the music and musicians that define the landscape of American vernacular culture. American Routes is co-produced by American Public Media and reaches nearly a million listeners nationwide each week on 250 stations. Nick is also known for cultural features on All Things Considered and Nightline, documentary CD recordings, and PBS films. Long involved in work with cultural creolization and African-French communities Spitzer served as the first Louisiana State Folklorist and then spent a decade at the Smithsonian—initially as senior folklife specialist and as artistic director for the Folk Masters concert series produced in collaboration with Carnegie Hall and Wolf Trap, and the annual American Roots 4th of July concerts broadcast from the National Mall. He was appointed Mellon professor in the humanities at Tulane University and is currently professor of folklore and cultural conservation at the University of New Orleans. In 2005 Nick received the New Orleans’ Mayor’s Arts Award. A strong advocate for the cultural rebuilding of the city post-catastrophe, he was named Louisiana Humanist of the Year in 2006. This year he is a Guggenheim Fellow researching traditions of creativity in Louisiana Creole communities.