Music & Culture

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

Brad Mehldau And His Piano Outline The Resolve (And Yes, The Anxiety) Of Our Moment

7:26am June 12, 2020

by Nate Chinen

With his new collection Suite: April 2020, the celebrated pianist subtly captures the curvature of this historic era.

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."

Music & Culture

Not-So-Lone Rangers: Out In The Country All Year Long

12:07pm June 11, 2020

by Jewly Hight

The intersections of country music and LGBTQIA+ communities can sometimes come across as solitary acts of bravery. But the state of queer country is better measured by its full time residents.

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.