Music

Lucinda Williams's iconic fifth album, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, defined Americana, but it's just one peak in a career that stretches 20 years forward and back in time from that moment.

Music & Culture

Lucinda Williams: A Guide To Her Best Songs

12:05pm April 24, 2020

by Ann Powers

Williams's new album, Good Souls Better Angels, is another remarkable entry in a catalog that has, across more than a dozen albums, shaped Americana. Here's a map of her career's many high points.

Music & Culture

Fred The Godson, New York Hip-Hop Fixture, Dead At 35 From COVID-19 Complications

10:47am April 24, 2020

by Jon Lewis

The Bronx-based rapper made the XXL freshman class of 2011 on the strength of his 2010 mixtape, Armageddon. Fred had been hospitalized earlier this month with the coronavirus.

To pass the time during the pandemic, Billy Porter has been reading, writing and working on music.

Music & Culture

Hear A New Song From Billy Porter, Plus His Quarantine Recommendations

10:00am April 24, 2020

by Billy Porter

In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Actor and singer Billy Porter has been reading, writing and working on music.

The Rolling Stones. From left: Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts.

The Rolling Stones Finished A New Single While Safely Distanced From Each Other

2:55pm April 23, 2020

by Lars Gotrich

"It's sort of eerie when suddenly it's coming to life," Keith Richards said of "Living In a Ghost Town," which they wrote in one world and completed in another.

David Roode and his wife, a concert pianist, have done some recording while on lockdown in Cincinnati. And they've tapped into savings they typically rely on during the slower summer months.

A Trombonist Wonders When An Audience Will Gather To Hear Music

2:06pm April 23, 2020

by Scott Horsley

David Roode's musical career went abruptly on hold when stay-at-home orders took effect. He predicts that when the crisis passes, people will want to enjoy the experience of attending concerts again.

Danielle Ponder submitted the song "Poor Man's Pain" to the 2020 Tiny Desk Contest.

Music & Culture

The Best 2020 Tiny Desk Contest Entries We Saw This Week: Volume 6

1:24pm April 23, 2020

This week's entries include a call for justice, an urge to reconcile our differences and an invitation to dance. If you want to send us your song, don't delay: There's less than a week left to enter.

Allison Moorer has been reading poetry to stay sane during the pandemic.

Music & Culture

Allison Moorer On The Poetry And Podcasts That Put Things In Perspective

10:00am April 23, 2020

by Allison Moorer

In Our Daily Breather, we ask artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Allison Moorer shares the poetry, podcasts and book that are helping her.

Music & Culture

'Smile' With A Performance By Pianist Monty Alexander And Bassist Ray Brown

9:22am April 23, 2020

Hear a concert with pianist Monty Alexander and bassist Ray Brown from 2000. Host Christian McBride picks his favorite songs from the gig that puts both musicians' joy and camaraderie on full display.

Music & Culture

Watch Anthony D'Amato Walk The Empty Streets Of The Big Easy In 'Love, Again'

9:00am April 23, 2020

by Bruce Warren

His song "Love, Again" "explores the idea of romance at a time when physical contact is off the table," D'Amato says. The video was shot "in the middle of all the eerie, beautiful emptiness."

The Pop Ups play a Tiny Desk Home concert.

Music & Culture

The Pop Ups: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

6:29am April 23, 2020

by Bob Boilen

For "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day," The Pop Ups save the earth from an asteroid, explain sound waves through a sing-a-long and a keytar, and encourage us all to invent and create.