Marcia Ball Looks Back On Her Blues Legacy: 'I'm Perfectly Suited For The Job'
With five decades in show business, blues musician Marcia Ball talks about her latest album Shine Bright and the perks of life on the road.
Music Interviews
'I Used To Be A Dreamer': To Change The World, Souad Massi Starts With Herself
The Algerian singer talks about fighting for justice and honoring Arab poets through her music and performs three of her most powerful songs live.
Remembering 'Schoolhouse Rock!' Jazz Musician Bob Dorough
Dorough, who died Monday, spoke with Terry Gross in 1982 and 1996. The kids who learned from his fun, educational songs probably didn't know what a great jazz pianist, singer and songwriter he was.
Superchunk On World Cafe
A studio performance of songs from the indie outfit's most focused and aggressive album in years, What a Time to Be Alive.
Mel Brooks Says It's His Job To 'Make Terrible Things Entertaining'
Brooks, 91, has made a career of poking fun at topics that normally wouldn't make you laugh. "The comedy writer is like the conscience of the king," Brooks says. "He's got to tell him the truth."
Where Did The Unique Style Of Botswana's Guitarists Come From? Nobody Seems To Know
Thanks in part to the efforts of Dutch ex-pat, this unique playing style has been documented in a new compilation of Botswanan folk music.
Ben Harper And Charlie Musselwhite On World Cafe
The Grammy-winning duo is back to talk about finding common ground and perform songs from their new record No Mercy In This Land.
Meet Naia Izumi, The 2018 Tiny Desk Contest Winner
The fourth annual Tiny Desk Contest winner has been revealed. Get to know the Georgia-hailing guitarist who won over the hearts of our judges this year.
Hop Along On World Cafe
The Philadelphia group delivers a live performance that gives you that bubbling feeling of a band about to break.
How Rhiannon Giddens Reconstructs Black Pain With The Banjo
The renowned folk songwriter stops by NPR's Washington D.C. headquarters to play two songs from her latest album and discuss the historical African-American roots of her music and of her instrument.