Music Interviews

Music & Culture

Transgression, Noise And Drag: The Creation Of A Fake Arab Pop Star

4:53pm June 05, 2018

by Mina Tavakoli

Of the life of an artist — particularly for women of color — the fearless Fatima Al Qadiri says: "Everything can be an act of joy and beauty until it gets put out. Then it can get dangerous."

Music & Culture

World Cafe Nashville: R.LUM.R

3:40pm June 05, 2018

by Ann Powers

His voice and style align him more with rising R&B crooners than with country hunks, but R.LUM.R is part of a Tennessee pop scene pairing classic song craftsmanship with innovative production.

"Soul comes from the gut," Roger Daltrey says. "It can't come from the head."

Music & Culture

Roger Daltrey Renews His Love For The 'Magical Music' Of American Soul

1:41pm June 05, 2018

The voice of The Who taps into his early love of soul music with his ninth solo record, As Long as I Have You.

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"There is an element to what I do sometimes where I capture something that I have trouble recreating or beating," Herzig says. "So a lot of times I get stuck with the demo, like, the first time I sang it."

Music & Culture

World Cafe Nashville: Katie Herzig

9:00am June 05, 2018

by Jewly Hight

Herzig's trajectory probably doesn't much resemble what you'd expect a professional Nashville songwriter's career to look like. That seems to suit her just fine.

"It doesn't matter how hard the subject is, make it danceable," Angélique Kidjo says.

Music & Culture

Angélique Kidjo Connects Talking Heads With Her African Roots

11:57am June 04, 2018

The first time Kidjo heard Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime," she knew it was an African song. Almost 35 years later, her new cover album sounds as if it really had been conceived in West Africa.

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Black Thought reflects on his 30-year career with his debut solo project, Streams of Thought Vol. 1.

Music & Culture

Black Thought Sets Out On His Own

5:55pm June 01, 2018

Streams of Thought Vol. 1, the debut solo project from the voice of The Roots, shows off a side of the rapper fans rarely get to hear.

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Arturo O'Farrill (at piano) and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra close out the Artes De Cuba: From the Island to the World concert series.

Music & Culture

'Still A Lot Of Love': Arturo O'Farrill On Cuba-U.S. Artistic Relations

3:42pm June 01, 2018

by Marisa Arbona-Ruiz

The band leader weighs in on the complicated and historical relationship between Cuba and the United States.

Music & Culture

John Prine On World Cafe

2:54pm June 01, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

You don't have to have heard John Prine's music before to feel instantly connected to him. His songs are an invitation to come along.

Willie Nelson (left) and Waylon Jennings perform at Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic in 1978.

Music & Culture

Country Music's Outlaw Legacy, Behind Glass

1:48pm June 01, 2018

by Jewly Hight

At the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, an exhibit casts the Outlaw country movement of the 1970s as a fluid exchange between the Nashville establishment and raucous outsiders.

Charley Crockett (center) and band inside the World Cafe Performance Studio.

Music & Culture

Charley Crockett On World Cafe

10:31am June 01, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

Though he's had some ups and downs, Crockett has come out on the other side with a cowboy hat, some amazing songs and a hard-earned version of optimism that's nothing short of inspiring.