Music & Culture

Jake Blount is a banjo and fiddle player and queer activist. His new album, Spider Tales, links country and bluegrass traditions in America with roots in African mythology.

Music & Culture

A Not-At-All Exhaustive LGBTQIA+ Country Playlist

12:00pm June 11, 2020

by Jewly Hight

These music makers have wildly different relationships with genre and cultural conventions. They don't look or sound alike or share the same aims or aspirations. That's the point.

Freshly laundered quilting fabric, courtesy of Emma Bowers.

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: How Quilting Can Help Us Cope With Uncertainty

10:00am June 11, 2020

by Emma Bowers

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. NPR Music intern Emma Bowers has been quilting.

Jimmy Heath, whose album Love Letter will be released July 17, 2020.

Music & Culture

Saxophonist Jimmy Heath Takes An Elegant Victory Lap On His Posthumous 'Love Letter'

9:29am June 11, 2020

by Nate Chinen

The lauded saxophonist passed away in January at the age of 93 — but not before recording a tender, accomplished collection alongside several of his fellow luminaries.

Jacob Ezzo, a chorus teacher from South Orange Middle School in New Jersey, has helped spearhead an effort to make face shields for those working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Music Teacher's 'Weekend' Project Turns Into Almost 40,000 Face Shields

7:23am June 11, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Working alongside dozens of other volunteers, middle school chorus teacher Jacob Ezzo has made and sent PPE to health care workers and first responders from New Jersey to the Navajo Nation.

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Music & Culture

KIRBY: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

6:59am June 11, 2020

by Sidney Madden

You've heard this Mississippi songwriter multiple times on HBO's Insecure this season. Now watch her perform live as part of our Tiny Desk quarantine series.

A man stands in front a poster advertising an "at home" streamed Coachella event in April in Hollywood, Calif.

Coachella Festival Canceled In 2020, Says Public Health Commissioner

10:28pm June 10, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The Riverside County, Calif., health commissioner gives an order on Wednesday evening that the popular festival and its country music sibling, Stagecoach, would both be canceled this year.

A mural memorializes George Floyd is his hometown of Houston, where he was known as Big Floyd, and part of the city's hugely influential Screwed Up Click rap collective.

Music & Culture

Houston's Hip-Hop Scene Remembers George Floyd

6:25pm June 10, 2020

George Floyd, whose death sparked nationwide protests, was a rapper in Houston earlier in his life. NPR's David Greene speaks with Floyd's former collaborators about his musical past.

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An oversized Grammy award on display backstage during the 62nd annual Grammy ceremony in January.

The Grammys Changed Some Categories. Will They Make Any Difference?

4:36pm June 10, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The Recording Academy has announced changes for the names and definitions of four categories traditionally associated with artists of color. What does that mean for systemic changes at the Grammys?

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Baby Rose plays a Tiny Desk (Home) Concert.

Music & Culture

Baby Rose: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

1:50pm June 10, 2020

by Sidney Madden

One of our favorite new artists of 2019 shares a new song as part of her Tiny Desk quarantine concert.

Music speaks truth to anger and frustration, but also provides a sense of hope and beauty.

Music & Culture

This Is How I Feel: A Playlist By Young Black Listeners

1:06pm June 10, 2020

by Suraya Mohamed

Music has always been a vital part of protest and social justice. We asked our young Black listeners: Is there one song that's helping you address your feelings right now?