Music Interviews

Music & Culture

Remembering Jazz Singer Annie Ross

2:04pm July 31, 2020

by Terry Gross

Ross, who died July 21, was a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. She wrote "Twisted," which was recorded by both Joni Mitchell and Bette Midler. Originally broadcast in 1990.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

With 'Folklore,' Taylor Swift Marks Off Her Past And Enters A New Phase

2:04pm July 31, 2020

by Ken Tucker

Swift's eighth studio album came as a surprise. In the isolation of the past months, she's cooked up a yeasty kind of sugar-free pop that rises above much recent music-making.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

'The Go-Go's' Documentary Offers A Look At The All-Female Band's Journey To Stardom

4:33pm July 30, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with guitarist Charlotte Caffey and drummer Gina Schock of The Go-Go's about the new documentary that charts the band's rise to global stardom.

Music & Culture

Perfume Genius Believes In The Power Of Change

11:30am July 30, 2020

The artist Mike Hadreas talks about his experience performing in a dance project with Kate Wallich, how that influenced his latest record and perform songs from Set My Heart On Fire Immediately.

Makaya McCraven has a unique style where he makes improvised live recordings, then builds on them in the studio. His new album, which uses this method, is called Universal Beings E&F Sides.

Music & Culture

Drummer Makaya McCraven, The 'Beat Scientist,' Talks About His New Album

10:37am July 30, 2020

The jazz drummer records live performances and then manipulates those recordings in creative ways. His new album pulls from the pool of recordings that shaped his 2018 work, Universal Beings.

Queue Listen Now

Maria Sherman's new book gives critical consideration to a too-often maligned phenomenon within pop music: the boy band.

A New Book Traces The History Of Boy Bands, The Pop Phenomenon 'Larger Than Life'

7:59pm July 28, 2020

Author and music critic Maria Sherman talks about her new book, Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS and forgoing rock elitism to give into the joy of boy band pop songs.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Kentucky Artist S.G. Goodman Talks Her Debut Album, 'Old Time Feeling'

12:40pm July 28, 2020

The Kentucky singer-songwriter's debut album is a rocking country album called Old Time Feeling, and she talks about connecting with My Morning Jacket's Jim James to help co-produce the record.

Jake Blount, a 24-year-old banjoist and fiddler, is one of the people in the traditional music community working to educate others on the genre's Black roots.

Music & Culture

Breaking Down The Legacy Of Race In Traditional Music In America

9:27pm July 25, 2020

by Sophia Alvarez Boyd

The symbols of America's racist past have been under intense scrutiny since the protests against police brutality erupted nationwide. Now, the traditional music community is having its own reckoning.

Queue Listen Now

The Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County, Pa., created conditions for its inhabitants to become the first known female composers in America.

Music & Culture

A New Album Re-Creates The Work Of The 1st Known Female Composers In America

7:45am July 24, 2020

by Avery Keatley

Women rarely received credit for their creative work in Colonial America. But with a new album, one scholar is reviving the works of the women who lived and composed at the Ephrata Cloister.

Queue Listen Now

On her first album, Rina Sawayama blends metal and pop and tackles serious issues."It was such a risk to be a musician that I didn't want to do fluffy pop songs and hope it cut through," she says.

Music & Culture

Rina Sawayama Wants Her Success To Make Space For Asian Women In Pop Music

7:36pm July 19, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Rina Sawayama about her self-titled debut album, everyday racism against Asian women and going from a Cambridge student to a rising pop star.

Queue Listen Now