Music

An anthology devoted to early Nat King Cole recordings was recently released, and it offers a new window into his artistic development. The collection is called Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943), and this massive 7-CD, 10-LP package is clearly aimed at obsessives. It's a deep dive that traces Nat King Cole's evolution — from smooth, unflappable piano player into a singing star with an endearingly smooth style all his own.

Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble will perform Live From Studio A in advance of the show that night at Natalie's presented by WCBE and Crazy Mama's Concerts!

Tune in for live music, conversation and a chance to win tickets to the show!

It's all waiting for you on 90.5FM Columbus, 106.3FM Newark and on line at www.wcbe.org!

It's easy to imagine that Ringo Starr's closet is full of shoe boxes containing old mementos, like the photographs that populate Another Day In The Life, his newest book. The reality is a bit different though.

"If I'm in them, I just lift them off the internet," he says. "Others are what I do on tour when I'm hanging out."

It almost sounds like a twisted science experiment: Invite a dozen rock and roll warriors to spend a week at a ranch in the California desert, encourage them to write songs and play together, then capture the results.

Ida Mae the breakout British duo of Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean will perform Live From Studio A in advance of their show that night at the Rumba Cafe presented by WCBE!  

Megan Palmer, Jesse Henry with The High Definitions and the Boys and Girls Club Band will perform a special concert on Friday, November 8th at the Lincoln Theatre!

"It is an iconic part of so much pop and rock music, but it's also an instrument that's yet to be fully explored," says jazz keyboardist John Medeski.

Motherless Brooklyn is a new film about a private detective trying to solve a murder in 1950s New York.

Canadian musician AHI (prounounced "EYE") will drop by for a Live From Studio A session in advance of his show that night at The Basement with Columbus' own Hebdo!  

WCBE is looking forward to a return visit from the Austin, TX outfit Jamestown Revival!  They'll perform Live From Studio A in advance of the show with Ryan Bingham that night at The Newport!

WCBE is looking forward to hosting cellist/singer/artist Melora Creager and her historical cello rock band Rasputina Live From Studio A in advance of the show that night at the Rumba Cafe with Charming Disaster!

"It was really important to me to write about what happened," Mikaela Straus, the musician known as King Princess, says, referencing being thrust into a career that she wasn't as prepared for as she'd imagined.

Dan Piepenbring was a 29-year-old editor of the literary magazine The Paris Review in 2016 when he met Prince for the first time — and agreed to help the musical icon pen a memoir. It was the assignment of a lifetime for a writer who had not yet published a book, but Prince wanted someone he could open up to — and Piepenbring fit the bill.

The "profession" of rock criticism was still in its tender adolescence in 1969. Daily newspapers were beginning to hire writers to cover pop, rock and what was sometimes described as "youth culture." Alternative weeklies like the Village Voice became trusted early warning systems for new bands. And Rolling Stone magazine, which began in San Francisco in 1967, had by 1969 become the rock and roll "paper of record."

WCBE is looking forward to hosting The Building aka Anthony LaMarca Live From Studio A! 

WCBE is looking forward to the return of Ryan Bingham to perform Live From Studio A in advance of the show that night at The Newport!  

"I'm naturally soft spoken," Laetitia Tamko says. "But when I sing, I'm not soft spoken."

Much of Infinite Worlds, the first album Tamko recorded as Vagabon, was her with a guitar, singing achingly introspective songs about the search for home and safety. Tamko says when she recorded it, she was uncomfortable with how deep her voice was. But now, hundreds of live performances later, she's embraced it.

The recent biopic Rocketman painted a Hollywood version of Elton John's life, but a new memoir, Me, comes straight from the artist himself. In it, he describes how, as a young man, he was determined to enter the music business, in spite of some misgivings about rock 'n' roll in his household. As he tells Fresh Air, "My dad, of course, hated it."

It's a Friday night in London, but the cityscape is far from sight. On a small stage, the silhouettes of two dancers undulate in double time, then half-time, their limbs slicing through the red-lit fog that blurs their outline. A digitally frayed, hummed refrain keeps the pace in and out of which they keep moving, as the rise and fall of composer and sound artist Klein's amplified breath signals her impending arrival through the crowd.

This week, Big Thief will release its second album of the year. The double play alone doesn't capture just how prolific this band is, though. Two Hands is the third Big Thief release in the past year and six days, if you count lead songwriter Adrianne Lenker's solo record, abysskiss. Broaden the count from there, and it is the fifth Big Thief-related LP of the past year and a half, including solo outings from guitarist Buck Meek and drummer James Krivchenia. Big Thief is like a hydrant with its top knocked off. Music is pouring from Big Thief.

Singer-songwriter Austin Plaine will perform Live From Studio A in advance of his show that night at the Rumba Cafe presented by WCBE!

He's out on the road with his sophmore release Stratford and you'll get to hear all about it!

At the World Series game between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals in October 1968, Puerto Rican singer José Feliciano sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" — to no little controversy. Feliciano put a personal spin on the song, giving it a slower tempo, almost like a folk anthem. The rearranged version got a cold reception from many listeners, doing lasting damage to the singer's career.