Music Interviews

William Ferris has spent his career documenting church gospel hymns, Delta blues and work songs of Mississippi.

Music & Culture

Keeper Of Southern Folklife Is Up For 2 Grammy Awards

3:01pm February 01, 2019

by The Kitchen Sisters

Folklore archivist William Ferris is among the nominees for the 2019 Grammy Awards for his album: Voices of Mississippi — a collection of rural church gospel hymns, Delta blues and work songs.

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Music & Culture

Producer-Rapper Duo A.B. And Petty Trace Overlapping Musical Circles

1:50pm February 01, 2019

by Jewly Hight

In their first interview together, the Nashville natives talk process, opportunity and country music.

Music & Culture

Margo Price Sings About The Heartache And Beauty Of Small-Town America

1:22pm February 01, 2019

by Terry Gross

Price is up for the 2019 Grammy Award for best new artist. She spoke to Fresh Air in 2017 about growing up in the small town of Aledo, Ill.: "Now, when I go back, I see the beauty in it."

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Out Lines' Kathryn Joseph, Marcus Mackay (Producer) and James Graham.

Music & Culture

How The Band Out Lines Turns True Tales Into Music

3:34pm January 31, 2019

World Cafe takes a trip to Glasgow to hear about Kathryn Joseph and James Graham's life-changing act of taking other people's stories and turning them into songs.

"In the midst of the worst of times, we find a way to dance," DAWN says of her hometown, New Orleans. The artist used New Orleans as inspiration for her latest album, new breed.

Music & Culture

'We Find A Way To Dance': Inspired By New Orleans, DAWN Reconstructs Beauty From Ruin

5:02am January 31, 2019

Dawn Richard gained fame as a member of R&B group Danity Kane just as her hometown was recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Now a solo artist, she explores her New Orleans roots on a new album.

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Composer Nicholas Britell says cellos were central to the score he wrote for If Beale Street Could Talk (starring Stephan James and KiKi Layne, above): "The cellos really became for us this symbol of love, because the movie is about love and injustice."

'Beale Street' And 'Vice' Composer Isn't Afraid To Play The 'Wrong' Notes

3:40pm January 30, 2019

by Terry Gross

Oscar-nominated film composer Nicholas Britell seeks out sounds that capture a movie's essence. His process involves many discussions with directors — and a lot of experimenting.

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Music & Culture

Remembering The Beatles' Rooftop Gig, 50 Years Later, With Someone Who Was There

12:09am January 30, 2019

by Bob Boilen

Ken Mansfield was the U.S. Manager for Apple records when the Beatles played their final gig on a rooftop in London — and one of the few people who was actually with the band to witness it.

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Music & Culture

Oh Pep! Makes Unpredictable Pop

10:52am January 29, 2019

The Melbourne-based band has always got a bent note or quirky chord progression up its proverbial sleeve.

Music & Culture

Gregory Alan Isakov On Barn Tunes And Sand Dunes

2:51pm January 28, 2019

Take a trip to the farm in Colorado where Isakov created his latest album, Evening Machines.

Remembering Academy Award-Winning Composer Michel Legrand

2:01pm January 28, 2019

by Terry Gross

The jazz pianist, singer and producer, who died Saturday, won Oscar Awards for his compositions in Yentl, Summer of '42 and The Thomas Crown Affair. Originally broadcast in 1996.

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