Actor Jack Black plays a kindly small-town funeral director who murders a millionaire in the film Bernie. Black is also one-half of the comedy folk-rock group Tenacious D. In May, they released an album in the style of heavy metal bands from the 1980s.
The shape-shifting musician often sounds like a completely different artist from one song to the next. On his new Song Reader, he leaves the sound in the listeners' hands.
After several years spent releasing his own music and booking his own tours, the British singer-songwriter now has a Grammy nomination and an opening spot on Taylor Swift's U.S. tour.
Miguel has been kicking around the music industry for a decade. He says the success of his 2012 album, Kaleidoscope Dream, feels like the introduction he's been waiting for.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of Fresh Air as a daily national NPR program. This episode looks back at some of the great live musical performances from the show's archive, including songs from Shirley Horn, Loudon Wainwright III, Susannah McCorkle, Nick Lowe and Richard Thompson.
Musician Kristina Olsen says Tibetan prayer flags flying over porches near her home in Venice, Calif., made her wonder how divine forces decide whom to help and when.
It's been almost 10 years since Cash died, but fans still travel from around the world to see the tiny, dilapidated house where he grew up. Now, it's undergoing a painstaking restoration, with plans to open it as a museum in 2013.
In the music business, 2012 may be remembered as the year the weakest of the major record labels was swallowed up by the others. The demise of EMI raises big questions about the future of a business now dominated by just a few players.