It’s only fairly recently that disco has gotten its due as a musically and culturally significant pop art form. For decades, it was treated like a ‘70s novelty that paled in originality and staying power next to the work of the rock bards, but it’s clear now what a woefully incomplete and straight, white, dude-centric […]
Sometimes it’s the small gestures in music that convey the greatest insight. There’s ample proof in the singing and songwriting of Erin Rae, a Tennessee native who started life in smalltown Jackson, taking in her parents’ easy harmonizing at home, then cut short her college studies to focus on voice and guitar lessons and open […]
The band Brassville has made a name for itself playing all across Music City, from an initial street corner performance during the 2019 NFL Draft to dates at The Basement East, Exit/In, Acme Feed and Seed and other venues. Similar to the selection of songs in the group’s curated playlist, the band performs a wide […]
The reverb-rich drums and twinkling keys throughout I Don’t Live Here Anymore, the fifth studio record from Philadelphia rock group The War on Drugs, surely recall soft rock sounds of previous decades. But make no mistake—front man Adam Granduciel leads a world class 21st Century guitar band. At base level, Granduciel and his five musical […]
Plenty of rappers who’ve been in the game for a while understand that establishing their place in an ever-expanding lineage requires not only referencing and paying homage to the sounds and figures that preceded them, but engaging with new ones rising up. The impulse to evolve might propel an artist through multiple, distinct aesthetic eras. […]
This is the relaunch of our Community Beats series, where we bring you stories about fascinating people, pivotal perspectives and important work being done in and around music right where we live. TRANSCRIPT: Host intro: Over the last several years, there’s been growing recognition of the ways that Black and queer people have been marginalized […]
An un-ironic call for more “peace and love” might seem out of step in 2021 were it not coming from the mouth of Jim James, lead singer and principal songwriter of My Morning Jacket. WNXP filmed a special session with the band in early September at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, including a live performance […]
Tonight, Merge Records artist Torres — whose newest LP Thirstier was our #RecordoftheWeek (and the subject of a simultaneous NPR Music feature) not too long ago — graces one of the most storied stages in Music City, a room that live music fans (and longtime residents clutching to wisps of Old Nashville) hope remains a […]
“I don’t like to talk down to children,” Tom T. Hall told me over a decade ago. He didn’t condescend to me either, even though I was a young, somewhat green interviewer back then, probably overreaching in the questions I asked on the two occasions when he welcomed me into the studio behind his home, […]
Madi Diaz didn’t always grasp how to capture the unraveling of complicated emotions in her writing and delivery, but she certainly does now, as she displays during the chorus of “New Person, Old Place” from her new album History of a Feeling. “What use to hurt doesn’t hurt anymore,” she sings, trailing off with relief. […]