music

Coming up on Saturday Feb. 22, 2014 Capitol Square Rotary Club will host the ninth annual Music In The Round event benefiting the Rafiki AIDS Orphanage School of Muziki. 

WCBE proudly presents Chicago's progressive rock group Umphrey's McGee Friday, January 31st at The LC Pavilion! 

The Boston-based combo Della Mae will return to Columbus and Woodland's Tavern on Friday, October 25th! 

David Beck and Paul Cauthen were both playing music around San Marcos, Texas, when they recognized that it might be a good move to combine their talents and became Sons of Fathers. Actually, they originally went by the name Beck and Cauthen until another, more famous Beck took notice.

It was 1975 when Emmylou Harris had to figure out how to make a solo album after her classic work as Gram Parsons' duet partner. Her record company told her to "get a hot band." So she got The Hot Band with James Burton on lead, as well as a newcomer, Rodney Crowell, on rhythm guitar and, more importantly, songwriting.

Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale have contributed to roots music to an immeasurable degree throughout their careers. As songwriters and players, both solo and together, they've led bands, worked as sidemen and written great songs.

Today's guest, Leagues, provides a perfect start to World Cafe's week-long visit to Nashville, because it perfectly encapsulates the change going on there. A new rock band, Leagues was formed by an amazing singer, Thad Cockrell, who'd been so disenchanted with his alt-country career that he was ready to leave the music business altogether.

Night Beds is the work of Winston Yellen, who originally started making music in his hometown of Colorado Springs. But he traveled to Nashville to write the songs for Night Beds' debut album, Country Sleep, in a pre-Civil War cabin once owned by Johnny Cash.

The Lions' members share a strong love of classic, Jamaican-inspired reggae. Hailing from different musical generations, the L.A. band's members craft a unique style which blends hip-hop and reggae with electrifying dub rhythms. Although the lineup has changed since The Lions' beginnings, the music has remained explosive and alluring.

With a career spanning more than 30 years, English musician Billy Bragg blends folk, rock and punk with messages about politics and love. His new album Tooth & Nail is his first release in five years.

Local Natives, a Los Angeles-based indie-rock outfit, made a splash in 2009 with its self-funded debut album Gorilla Manor. The band went on tour with Arcade Fire and The National in support of the record, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 New Artist Chart.

Founded by brothers Rev. Gean West and Tommie West, The Relatives first surfaced in the 1970s with the single "Walking On." With its rhythmic fusion of traditional gospel and psychedelic funk, the quintet became known for its energetic live performances. However, the group disbanded in 1980, disappearing from the music world without so much as a full studio album to its name — until now.

Richard Thompson started playing in "The British Byrds," Fairport Convention, when he was only 17.

Valentine’s Day is a divisive time of year. Those with a significant other to be thankful for won’t mind the lovey-dovey nature of the occasion, but it fills many singles with bitterness and resentment. Luckily, there’s a vast collection of songs for both attitudes that span every genre, and I thought I’d present some of each. Whether you want a few songs to dance to with your sweetheart, or you need some tunes just to help you get through the day, enjoy this emotional collection and bask in your feelings for awhile.

For The Lovers

From his 1970s breakthrough as a founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra to his influential role as a leading drummer in the style of jazz and jazz-fusion, Billy Cobham remains a powerful musical explorer. Born in Panama, raised in New York and residing in Switzerland, he translates his multicultural experience into a blend of jazz, rock and funk.

Known as the queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson is widely considered the first woman to record a rock 'n' roll song: 1958's "Let's Have a Party." A singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, Jackson became a pioneer for her mix of country and rockabilly music. This approach served her well in the mid-1960s, as rockabilly began to decline in popularity.

Lianne La Havas has toured with Bon Iver, sung with Willy Mason and recorded her debut album with producer Matt Hales, better known as Aqualung. More than most, she can attest to the benefits of knowing the right people, but La Havas also has heaps of talent on her side.

The same brain system that controls our muscles also helps us remember music, scientists say.

When we listen to a new musical phrase, it is the brain's motor system — not areas involved in hearing — that helps us remember what we've heard, researchers reported at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans last month.

Note: This is a recurring series in which we ask our unimaginably young interns to review classic albums they've never heard before. Until very recently, Jenna Strucko was an intern for NPR Music.