Search results for

Each song on singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst's new CD, Strange Conversation, has its genesis in a poem, by writers ranging from Lord Byron and George Eliot to Edna St. Vincent Millay and E.E. Cummings.

The group Ollabelle came out of an open mike night in New York City called, "Sunday School for Sinners." Their music captures the sound and feeling of the American South, from it churches to its porches and honkytonks.

Lebanese oud virtuoso Marcel Khalife is known throughout the world as an artistic revolutionary and cultural icon — except in the U.S. Khalife hopes to change that on his current American tour. NPR's Neda Ulaby has a profile.

The FBI says 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise acted alone and apparently at random in killing nine people and himself on a Minnesota Indian reservation Monday. The shootings are the deadliest school violence since 1999. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Gunderson.

Culture was one of the seminal reggae harmony groups and the 1977 single, "Two Sevens Clash," was huge in Jamaica. The title refers to apocalyptic prophecies by Marcus Garvey. The song was so influential that on 7/7/77, the city of Kingston shut down. The full album was just reissued — on 7/7/07.

For New Orleans, music is both a way of life and an industry. And like everyone else who had to evacuate, the people who make up that industry are now scattered in different parts of the country. Some of them lost everything, including their instruments.

Guitarist Ottmar Liebert made his name with music he dubbed Nouveau Flamenco — over the objections of the recording industry. The guitarist, born in Germany, says the music has more to offer than corporate labels can cover. We visit with Liebert for a performance and chat.

Dean and Gene Ween are two of the oddest characters in alternative rock. Whether singing about a Mexican restaurant menu or the drudgery of spinal meningitis, the duo has compiled a discography of music that leaves some confused, others enraptured. Their latest is La Cucaracha.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Sixes & Sevens, the new album from singer-songwriter Adam Green. He co-wrote the song "Anyone Else But You" for the film Juno and co-founded the New York folk group The Moldy Peaches. Sixes & Sevens is his fifth solo album.

Some call them garage-rockers, but the Fleshtones, who actually got their start in a Queens basement, don't stop there. They add in overtones of R&B, rockabilly and even surf to create a sound they like to call "Super Rock." Fresh Air's rock critic takes a good look at their latest album, Take a Good Look.