Music Interviews

"I was just happy to be alive growing up," GoldLink says. "I just didn't even know if I could make it, 'cause a lot of kids that I knew did not make it."

Music & Culture

GoldLink On Go-Go And Making The Best Of A Bittersweet History

4:57pm April 14, 2017

The D.C. rapper survived a rough upbringing and made it as a member of a hip-hop renaissance in and around the nation's capital. That, he says, is cause for both celebration and soul-searching.

"I realized that it doesn't fit me to be any bigger than the music is," John Mayer says. "It was like me walking around with a really tight shirt for a couple of years."

Music & Culture

John Mayer On World Cafe

8:00am April 14, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

"Your true life exists in between the period of time where you stop being an ass and something kills you," Mayer says. "That's your life, and I just started my life."

Clyde and Gracie Lawrence perform together in the soulful pop band Lawrence.

Music & Culture

Siblings Gracie And Clyde Lawrence On Touring And The Meaning Of Home

6:20pm April 13, 2017

The brother and sister have been performing together since they were toddlers, but touring across the country in the soul-pop band Lawrence gave them a new understanding of their relationship.

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Cynthia Nixon plays Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies' new film A Quiet Passion. "I think she was afraid of life," Davies says. "Like a lot of geniuses, she had — skin missing. And that makes you very, very vulnerable."

New Film Celebrates Emily Dickinson's Poetry And 'Quiet Passion'

4:57pm April 13, 2017

by Lynn Neary

Many people find fascination in Dickinson's mysterious, reclusive life. But British film director Terence Davies says it was her poetry, more than her personal life, that drew him in.

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Music & Culture

Todd Rundgren On Technology, Creativity And His New Song With Trent Reznor

10:22am April 13, 2017

by Bob Boilen

One through line connects Todd Rundgren's nearly 50-year career: exploration. All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen spoke to the music veteran about his new album, White Knight, and our dark age.

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Matt Martians (right) and Syd of The Internet

Music & Culture

All Songs +1: A Conversation With Matt Martians And Syd Of The Internet

3:19pm April 12, 2017

by Timmhotep Aku

Guest host Timmhotep Aku talks with Syd and Matt Martians of The Internet about their new solo projects.

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Leo Brouwer went from being an orphan in Cuba to one of the most prolific Latin American composers alive today.

Music & Culture

'To Be Useful Is Something Incredible': Leo Brouwer Reflects On His Legacy

8:54am April 12, 2017

by Betto Arcos

Brouwer, one of Latin America's most renowned classical composers, sees music as a form of service. "When [humans] give ... they're doing one of the most beautiful things in life," he says.

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Ray Davies' new album, Americana, is based on his 2013 memoir of the same name.

Music & Culture

To Ray Davies, America Is Still A Land Of Opportunity

8:15am April 11, 2017

The former Kinks leader speaks with Steve Inskeep about Americana, a musical distillation of his sometimes tumultuous life as British rock star in the U.S.

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Throughout his career, Prince played around with constructions of race, gender and sexuality.

Prince Contained Multitudes, New Book Confirms

10:31am April 10, 2017

by Leah Donnella

Prince on defining his music: "The only thing I could think of, because I really don't like categories, but the only thing I could think of is inspirational."

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SOFTSPOT's new album, Clearing, is out now.

Music & Culture

A Brooklyn Band Finds Inspiration In Stormy Seas

8:06am April 08, 2017

SOFTSPOT's song "Maritime Law" originated when frontwoman Sarah Kinlaw and her dad were caught in a storm off the North Carolina coast. She says the experience made her view safety in a new way.