Ann Powers

Returning to a form he fell in love with after first moving to Nashville, the genre-defying singer recorded Cuttin' Grass Vol. 1 in just a few days earlier this year, after recovering from COVID-19.

Little Big Town, one of the biggest bands in country music, perform a Tiny Desk quarantine show, and they bring the hits.

World Cafe Nashville correspondent Ann Powers shares three recent releases that she's excited about.

The Nashville songwriter performs four songs from her picturesque loft apartment, including fan favorite "Hold My Hand."

The Kentuckian singer-songwriter wanted to be clear on the meaning of a surprise new song and album, explaining to his fans in a video that, among other things, "Black lives matter."

World Cafe's Nashville correspondent, Ann Powers, talks about the state of Music City and five new releases that she's excited about.

The Nashville-based rock musician recorded a five-song set for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.

If anyone could take her career to the next level during lockdown, it's Billie Eilish. "My Future," written and recorded in Los Angeles during lockdown, is a dreamy ode to freedom.

Three critics dive into a new album full of surprises — released on a day's notice, co-produced by The National's Aaron Dessner — and ask how it fits into an arguably unprecedented career.

Taylor Swift surprised her fans and released a new album Friday. Folklore is her eighth studio album.

Long known as firebrands ready to take on abusers, country music and the president, the trio now known as The Chicks is finding – on its first album in 14 years – beauty in loss and lonesomeness.

At 79, 74 and 87 years old, respectively, these three veteran songwriters prove that it's possible to release poignant and powerful work late in an artist's career.

These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back.

In a new song and video, Anderson .Paak and video director Dave Meyers take a hushed look at the lives amidst the movement.

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

As demonstrations for racial equality continue across the U.S. and the world, artists have been shaping and sharing their grief, fury, resolve and vision for the future.

NPR Music correspondents Ann Powers and Sidney Madden recommend a few favorite livestreaming performance series to check out while in-person concerts are on hold.

Many artists around the start of the rock era pointed toward sex, but in his performance of "Tutti Frutti" and other songs, Little Richard enacted sexual excitement itself.

NPR's music correspondent answers questions about the changing nature of the music industry during the pandemic and talks about how some artists are trying to make ends meet.

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.