Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Neyla Pekarek Strikes Out On Her Own In New Album Drawing On Colorado Folklore

5:29pm January 19, 2019

NPR's Melissa Block talks to Neyla Pekarek, formerly of The Lumineers, about her debut solo album, Rattlesnake, which was inspired by an actual frontierswoman named "Rattlesnake Kate."

Gladys Knight will "give the anthem back its voice," she said in a statement explaining her decision to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIII in spite of boycotts by other black artists.

Music & Culture

Gladys Knight To Sing The Super Bowl's National Anthem, As A Perilous Fight Endures

8:57am January 19, 2019

by Rodney Carmichael

In a statement, Knight failed to balm an increasingly pronounced cultural rift that's come to dominate the conversation around this year's big game.

Music & Culture

Different Ways To See And Be: The Lives Of Joseph Jarman And Alvin Fielder

8:02am January 19, 2019

by Howard Mandel

The deaths of two foundational members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a forward-thinking Chicago jazz collective, offers a chance to reflect on its evolving impact.

Music & Culture

R. Kelly Has Been Dropped By RCA Records, 'Billboard' Reports

9:50pm January 18, 2019

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Amid increasing protests following the broadcast of the Surviving R. Kelly documentary series, RCA Records has reportedly dropped the singer, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual abuse.

Queue Listen Now

"They're still love songs. They're still melodically driven," Sharon Van Etten says. "I just feel like I sing with a different kind of force."

Music & Culture

'A Different Kind Of Force': Sharon Van Etten Takes Her Sound In New Directions

5:07pm January 18, 2019

After taking a break, Van Etten tweaks her sound and loves the many versions of herself on her latest album, Remind Me Tomorrow.

Travis Scott performs in Austin, Texas, in October 2018. Scott is set to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show.

Even With Rappers Set To Perform, Super Bowl's Halftime Show Remains Tone-Deaf

3:19pm January 18, 2019

Rappers Big Boi and Travis Scott have agreed to perform at the show while many others have rejected the NFL's request due to its handling of the Colin Kaepernick kneeling controversy.

Queue Listen Now

Juan Wauters wrote his new album, La Onda De Juan Pablo, while traveling Latin America.

Music & Culture

Juan Wauters Makes Meaning Out Of Minutiae on 'Blues Chilango'

3:16pm January 18, 2019

by Adelaide Sandstrom

"Blues Chilango," a new track and video from Juan Wauters, finds beauty in life's little moments.

Louie Peréz at a book signing for Good Morning, Aztlán: The Words, Pictures and Songs of Louie Perez.

Music & Culture

With A New Book, Louie Peréz Of Los Lobos Is Master Storyteller

2:53pm January 18, 2019

by Felix Contreras

Good Morning, Aztlán collects several well-known Perez compositions as well as his thoughts on a variety of topics.

Music & Culture

Mumford & Sons Get Acoustic Again On World Cafe

2:17pm January 18, 2019

The members of Mumford & Sons went through a lot of personal changes that fed into writing the band's fourth album, Delta.

"GIRL," Maren Morris' first new solo music since her 2016 debut album, Hero, is an ode to perseverance.

Music & Culture

Maren Morris' New Song, 'GIRL,' Is A Pep Talk To Herself

10:08am January 18, 2019

by Jewly Hight

After three years of whirlwind success that led from her debut album through last year's smash dance-pop hit "The Middle," Morris' new song is an interior dialogue about struggling through self-doubt.