Music

Old Souls Quit Their Day Jobs And Tour The UK

10:38am July 11, 2015

This summer we're following one band's summer tour. NPR's Wade Goodwyn talks to band leader Marty O'Reilly and tour manager James Partridge of the band Marty O'Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra.

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Classical Composers' Feathered Influences

10:38am July 11, 2015

Did Beethoven cop from a warbler? Did Mozart plagiarize a starling? NPR's Wade Goodwyn speaks with Talkin' Birds host Ray Brown about these musical mysteries.

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An organ grinder and child in Chicago, 1891.

Music & Culture

Strange Stories Surrounding Street Pianos

4:13pm July 10, 2015

by Linton Weeks

Designed to provide pleasure, street pianos in 19th and 20th century America were also magnets for some mischief and malevolence.

A crowd gathers at Hollywood's Amoeba Music for a free weekday concert in 2007. A new shift to Friday album releases could spell logistical trouble for independent record stores like this one.

Music & Culture

Goodbye, Music Tuesday: Starting Today, Albums Come Out On Friday

3:40pm July 10, 2015

by Leah Scarpelli

Around the world, new albums will now be released on Fridays. While the change is meant to help keep music from leaking early online, it could create some new headaches for music sellers.

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Chicago is taxing services such as Netflix and Spotify. Some residents wonder if a tax on other Internet services will follow, and others worry the levy will scare away business.

Chicago's 'Cloud Tax' Raises The Cost Of Streaming Videos

3:15pm July 10, 2015

by Cheryl Corley

Chicago is taxing services such as Netflix and Spotify. Some residents wonder if a tax on other Internet services will follow, and others worry the levy will scare away businesses.

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Music & Culture

Duke Ellington's 'Plank Session' Offers Snapshots Of A Jazz Master At Work

3:09pm July 10, 2015

by Kevin Whitehead

In July 1970, Duke Ellington recorded two tunes engineered by Conny Plank. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says The Conny Plank Session, which is now on CD, is a window onto Ellington's working method.

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Bruce Springsteen has complained that his song "Born in the USA" has been played or quoted by Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan and Ronald Reagan. Springsteen performed at campaign events for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Playlist: Campaign Songs That Made Musicians Mad

5:14pm July 09, 2015

by Tamara Keith

As it turns out, the songs that run politicians right into copyright issues make for a pretty rockin' playlist.

Music & Culture

Read The Overwhelming, Tragic Story Of Makeunder's 'Great Headless Blank' EP

1:16pm July 09, 2015

by Bob Boilen

Hamilton Ulmer, the leader of the Oakland band, shares a track-by-track analysis of Makeunder's latest EP, which was inspired by a terrible year in the songwriter's life.

Amy Winehouse performs at London's Music of Black Origin Awards in 2007.

Documentary Seeks To Free Amy Winehouse From Her Tabloid Legacy

3:07pm July 08, 2015

In the dawning of the digital age, "She was the unlucky one to be having a nervous breakdown in public at the time," Amy director Asif Kapadia tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross.

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Music & Culture

Pokey LaFarge Mines His Midwestern Roots, Finds 'Something In The Water'

2:56pm July 08, 2015

The singer-songwriter brings his acoustic guitar to the Fresh Air studio to sing some new songs as well as some of his favorites from the 1920s and '30s. Originally broadcast April 27, 2015.

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