Music

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: Bobby Bare's Sage Advice For Taking It Day By Day

10:00am June 13, 2020

by Bobby Bare

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Bobby Bare is reflecting on time spent with family and loved ones.

Allison Loggins-Hull and Nathalie Joachim are two of the artists featured in the Library of Congress' Boccaccio Project, a collection of songs inspired by the coronavirus pandemic.

Music & Culture

A New Library Of Congress Project Commissions Music Of The Coronavirus Pandemic

5:24pm June 12, 2020

by Taylor Haney

The Library of Congress is debuting 10 works of new music about the COVID-19 pandemic. The project takes inspiration from Giovanni Boccaccio, a writer who collected stories about the Black Death.

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This new recording, from Bettye LaVette's upcoming album Blackbirds, returns "Strange Fruit" to the blues.

Music & Culture

Bettye LaVette's 'Strange Fruit' Offers A Moment To Mourn And Renew

1:23pm June 12, 2020

by Ann Powers

This song's story always must be told and heard again; we have not yet moved beyond the need for its witnessing.

Music & Culture

Bootsy Collins Shares A New Song, Plus His Thoughts On Gratitude During A Crisis

10:01am June 12, 2020

by Bootsy Collins

In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to share ways to find calm during the COVID-19 crisis. Bootsy Collins recommends being thankful, and shares his new song, "Stars."

Axel Stone and friends return to clean up the streets once again in Streets of Rage 4.

How 'Streets Of Rage 4' Reimagined Gaming's Most Iconic Rave

10:00am June 12, 2020

by Vincent Acovino

The Streets of Rage video game franchise was known for its cutting edge, club-inspired soundtrack. Composer Olivier Deriviere set out to recapture that magic in Streets of Rage 4.

John Prine records "I Remember Everything."

Music & Culture

Watch John Prine Play His Last Recorded Song, 'I Remember Everything'

9:57am June 12, 2020

by Stephen Thompson

Shortly before his death, Prine sat down, in his living room, with producer Dave Cobb to record one last plainspoken reflection. It's a deeply graceful look back at a life well lived.

Music & Culture

PJ: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

6:21am June 12, 2020

by Bobby Carter

The Los Angeles songwriter shines on the soundtrack of HBO's Insecure. Watch her perform three songs as part of our Tiny Desk quarantine series.

Music & Culture

Watch Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf Episode 1 Featuring Bobby Carter

5:57pm June 11, 2020

by Elle Mannion

Live on YouTube, Bob Boilen and Bobby Carter will watch their favorites entries to the 2020 Contest and discuss what made them stand out from the thousands we saw this year.

Aided by an ensemble cast of jazz musicians new and old, Lakecia Benjamin recorded the entirety of her new album 'Pursuance: The Coltranes' in two days.

Music & Culture

Play It Forward: Lakecia Benjamin Sings Through Her Saxophone

4:45pm June 11, 2020

Ari Shapiro talks to jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin about her new album Pursuance: The Coltranes and an artist she is grateful for: James Blake.

The trio now known as Lady A, arriving at the Country Music Awards in April 2019. They announced the switch on social media, saying that calls for racial justice over the past several weeks have revealed their "blindspots."

Lady Antebellum Changes Its Name To Lady A

4:16pm June 11, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The popular country music trio announced the switch on Thursday morning on social media, saying that calls for racial justice over the past several weeks have revealed their "blindspots."