Music News

Music & Culture

'Turbulence,' Latest Album By Ella Vos, Is Aptly Named

8:16am July 26, 2020

Musician Ella Vos has been through a lot lately: postpartum depression, cancer and divorce. NPR's Sarah McCammon talks Vos, who's real name is Lauren Salamone, about her second album.

Patrick Ellis worked at Howard University radio station for over 40 years. "He would play music that touched him," says one colleague. "He would play music that he knew touched his audience."

Music & Culture

Remembering Radio Host Patrick Ellis, Who Brought The 'Gospel Spirit' To D.C.

8:16am July 26, 2020

For more than 40 years, 96.3 WHUR-FM broadcast Patrick Ellis's beloved and popular radio show Gospel Spirit Sunday mornings, filling the homes and cars of Washington, D.C., with the sound of church.

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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.

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Taylor Swift's new album, Folklore, is out now.

Music & Culture

Stream Taylor Swift's New Album, 'Folklore'

6:41am July 24, 2020

by Lyndsey McKenna

Swift's eighth studio album — recorded in isolation and announced just a day before it was released — features collaborations with members of The National and Bon Iver.

Annie Ross, Mid-Century Jazz Icon, Dead At 89

3:04pm July 22, 2020

by James Gavin

Ross was recognized as a natural performer from an early age. She essentially never stopped.

In a string of deleted tweets, rapper Kanye West claimed that his wife Kim Kardashian was trying to get him hospitalized, following a campaign rally he held on Sunday.

Kanye West Tweets, Then Deletes, Claims Of His Family's Concern — And More

11:54am July 21, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

West has announced he's running for president. Following an apparent campaign rally on Sunday, the rapper said in a string of now-deleted tweets that his wife was trying to "lock me up with a doctor."

The inside of xBk, Tobi Parks' music venue in Des Moines, Iowa. Without help, hers and thousands of other small, independent spaces across the country are at risk of closing.

Independent Venues Face Bleak Future Without Aid

11:11am July 21, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

Small music venues in the US are looking for a lifeline — and a new bill in Congress called the Restart Act might be it. Advocates say the future of independent clubs relies on government relief.

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Music & Culture

Billy Joel Says Discarded Piano Is 'Perfectly Good'

7:03am July 20, 2020

Five-time Grammy winner Billy Joel recently saw a piano left on a sidewalk in Long Island, and just had to stop to tickle the ivories. He said it would be a shame to throw it away.

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A parking lot in Nashville, photographed on Mar. 31, 2020, after Tennessee's governor issued a stay-at-home order in response to the developing coronavirus crisis.

Music & Culture

Breaking Into The Close-Knit World Of Country Music, While Keeping Distant

6:00am July 20, 2020

by Jewly Hight

Nashville has rigid hierarchy of success — particularly when it comes to artists promoting themselves and ascending the city's ladder. And then came a virus.

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.

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