Anderson East On World Cafe

Sometimes at a concert, an artist's encore can feel more like a premeditated given than an earned celebration. But if you've ever seen the captivating Anderson East live (high jumps, sheer vocal prowess and all), you might agree that he earns every single encore he plays. And so, it feels just fine that East has called his latest album Encore.

East studied engineering before making his way through songwriting circles in Nashville. He was discovered out at a show by producer Dave Cobb, who traded East studio time to make his label debut Delilah in exchange for some household tasks (as East told me, "I even refinished his basement floors and had no qualifications to do that"). Cobb was also at the helm of East's latest album.

You might have heard Cobb's name a lot on this show. He's the secret sauce right now in Nashville, having recently produced albums for Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and more.

East and I spoke in the second week of April. This was before the tragic death on April 20 of Swedish DJ Avicii, who co-wrote "Girlfriend," one of the songs you'll hear East perform. Avicii was 28 years old. We talked a bit about their time working together. Listen in the player.

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