Music Interviews

Music & Culture

Jazz Guitarist Julian Lage On 'Arclight' And Shifting Musical Genres

2:25pm April 13, 2016

Lage began playing guitar at the age of 5 and appeared on stage at the Grammys at 13. He talks to Fresh Air about growing up a guitar prodigy, his father's gentle coaching and his new trio album.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

OG Maco: 'I Want To Give The World A Fighting Chance'

10:00am April 13, 2016

"I don't want anybody to do exactly what I'm doing," says the Atlanta rapper. "I want people to look at why I'm doing what I'm doing. And if you agree with that, you go do what you do about it."

Queue Listen Now

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's first book, Your Song Changed My Life, finds his favorite artists each locating a pivotal moment of inspiration.

Music & Culture

'What Song Changed Your Life?': Bob Boilen On How Musicians Become Themselves

5:48pm April 12, 2016

by NPR Staff

"I've been fascinated for a long time about what it is that inspires people to become what they are," says the host of NPR's All Songs Considered. His new book, out now, is Your Song Changed My Life.

Queue Listen Now

Anthony Gonzalez of M83. The band's latest album, its first since 2011, is called Junk.

Music & Culture

On 'Junk,' M83's Anthony Gonzalez Reconnects With His Past

5:32pm April 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

"I'm a very nostalgic person," the French musician says. "I just keep looking backwards all the time." The new album draws on the sounds of his roots in more ways than one.

Queue Listen Now

Tarica June walks through Washington, D.C. in her video for "But Anyway," a song examining gentrification in her hometown.

A D.C. Rapper's Love Song To A Gentrifying Hometown

9:30am April 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

Tarica June wrote "But Anyway" in response to quickening change in District. What she didn't expect was the wave of positive feedback — especially from other gentrifying cities across the country.

Music & Culture

South African Musician Johnny Clegg On Touring The American South

5:29pm April 09, 2016

South African musician and artist Johnny Clegg has traveled the world, but never toured the southern U.S. He's on a North American tour right now, promoting peace and racial healing.

Graham Nash's new solo album, his first since 2002, is called This Path Tonight.

Music & Culture

Graham Nash's Wild Night Out With The Everly Brothers

11:59am April 09, 2016

by NPR Staff

"The phone rings in my hotel room, and it was Phil Everly," Nash says of the strange evening in 1992 when he fulfilled a childhood dream.

Queue Listen Now

Miike Snow is (left to right) Andrew Wyatt, Pontus Winnberg and Christian Karlsson. The trio's latest album is called iii.

Music & Culture

Miike Snow Aims To Provoke Both The Ear And The Intellect

6:35pm April 08, 2016

by NPR Staff

The production team behind "Toxic" takes a more cerebral approach with its own music. At South By Southwest, the members spoke with Audie Cornish about the big ideas they smuggle into their songs.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Fresh Air Remembers Country Music Legend Merle Haggard

1:41pm April 08, 2016

"I was, to say the least, probably the most incorrigible child you can think of," Haggard told Fresh Air in 1995. The country icon died Wednesday morning in California. It was his 79th birthday.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Terrace Martin: 'I Believe You Should Be Yourself'

9:19am April 08, 2016

"My job is only to be a servant of the community, and just to inspire. That's it. That's my whole job, and I know that."

Queue Listen Now