Ann Powers appears in the following:
First Listen: Various Artists, Brandi Carlile's 'Cover Stories'
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Adele, Pearl Jam, The Avett Brothers, Dolly Parton and 10 more beloved musicians cover songs from Carlile's revered album, The Story.
World Cafe Nashville: Charlie Worsham
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Worsham's the guy many country music lovers love the most. With his new album, Beginning Of Things, it's time for the rest of the world to catch up.
Basking In Sin: Some Initial Thoughts On Kendrick Lamar's 'DAMN.'
Friday, April 14, 2017
The NPR Music staff spent Friday morning listening to the rapper's new album. Here are eight reactions to what will likely go down as one of the best albums of 2017.
Hear Chris Stapleton's First Single From His Forthcoming Album
Friday, April 14, 2017
"Broken Halos" is the first taste of From A Room: Volume 1.
First Listen: Charlie Worsham, 'Beginning Of Things'
Thursday, April 13, 2017
With his wry, subtle wit intact, the Nashville mainstay embraces great playing, sophisticated lyricism and the insight that comes from being the guy in the room who sits back and takes it all in.
Songs We Love: The Secret Sisters, 'Tennessee River Runs Low'
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Alabama's humid sense of wonder runs through The Secret Sisters' third album, You Don't Own Me Anymore. Visual folk artists Butch Anthony and John Henry Toney appear in the duo's new video.
World Cafe Nashville: Kyshona
Thursday, March 23, 2017
By day, this Nashville transplant is a music therapist; by night, she's a soul singer with a compassionate, uplifting voice.
Bittersweet Little Rock And Roller
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Chuck Berry's life story includes serious mistreatment of women, but fully reckoning with his legacy means also acknowledging the women and girls who made his groundbreaking rock and roll possible.
Songs We Love: Rose Cousins, 'White Flag'
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Cousins becomes of part of the vast, rocky coastline of Nova Scotia in an exquisite black and white video for the songwriter's meditation on loss and loneliness.
World Cafe Nashville: Marty Stuart
Thursday, March 09, 2017
Hear a session with the walking, talking, singing, guitar-slinging repository of American popular music in advance of his new album, Way Out West.
First Listen: Hurray For The Riff Raff, 'The Navigator'
Thursday, March 02, 2017
On her new album, Alynda Segarra embeds the rhythms of the Latinx diaspora to explore the saga of a people displaced through exile, segregation and gentrification.
World Cafe Nashville: Ahmed And Hasan Alzuabi
Friday, February 24, 2017
Music City is home to a growing community of immigrants and refugees from the Middle East, including this Syrian father-and-son duo.
World Cafe Nashville: Little Bandit
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Alex Caress' band makes classic country music with a sassy and subtly political twist.
World Cafe Nashville: Alison Krauss
Friday, February 17, 2017
Krauss discusses her latest solo album, Windy City, and what she's learned about collaboration in the years since her last recording project.
First Listen: Rhiannon Giddens, 'Freedom Highway'
Thursday, February 16, 2017
In her new work, the Carolina Chocolate Drops vocalist speaks for the truly silenced: slaves; those murdered during the civil rights movement; young men felled by police bullets in city streets today.
The Problem With The Grammys Is Not A Problem We Can Fix
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Adele's attempt to share her album of the year Grammy with Beyoncé on Sunday was a gesture that held within it a history of privilege and power that listeners and institutions alike reckon with.
Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince Streams 4 U
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Now that his catalog has come to streaming services, we've created four playlists to highlight the fundamentals of the Prince ideology.
With The Wu-Force, Watch An Age-Old Story Unfold From A Phone Screen
Friday, February 10, 2017
The Wu-Force's Wu Fei, Abigail Washburn and Kai Welch borrow a motif from Pixies' "Where Is My Mind" to soundtrack an inventive video for "Paper Lanterns."
First Listen: Alison Krauss, 'Windy City'
Thursday, February 09, 2017
Krauss' first solo album since 1999 shows off her intelligence and good humor in versions of classic songs that are delightfully down to earth.
Should Anyone Expect Pop Stars To Lead The Resistance?
Monday, February 06, 2017
Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime performance was possibly progressive, definitely patriotic and ultimately open-ended. Gaga played to the masses, and left the messages mixed.