The show was launched in November 1997 on
WWOZ in New Orleans. It was created by Nick Spitzer and Mary Beth Kirchner, who had worked together previously producing segments for
All Things Considered. By 1998,
American Routes was syndicated by American Public Radio for 39 stations. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, production of the show temporarily relocated to
KRVS 88.7
FM at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette in
Lafayette, Louisiana. While in Lafayette, Spitzer and his crew produced a series of shows called
After the Storm, which "followed the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast through the stories and songs of its musicians". Production operations have since returned to New Orleans with studios at
Tulane University. In July 2008,
American Routes announced an affiliation with Tulane.
American Routes celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 16, 2009, with a concert at the
House of Blues in New Orleans. Performers included
Dr. Michael White,
Trombone Shorty and
Al Johnson. Performances and interviews from the show were included in a program that aired the week of February 18, 2009.
American Routes has more than 300 original shows in its catalog, and a database of over 1000 hours of interviews. As of July 2011, the program switched distributors from APM to the
Public Radio Exchange, although it continued to be distributed on the public radio satellite system. It was the second major public radio series to switch to the web-based distributor from one of the "Big 3" public radio distributors, after
Sound Opinions switched from APM the prior year. ==Format==