Aug 30 Column: A trans singer makes a 'most precious' sacrifice By David Kroman, Crosscut.com For Julian Morris, music and song writing has been a refuge as he's struggled with his sexual identity. He knew once he started taking hormones to transition to a male body, his voice would change. Making the decision to give… Continue reading
Aug 22 For Hayes Carll, it's 'all for the sake of the song' By Mike Fritz Hayes Carll has come a long way since his days of playing for brawling shrimpers in Texas. His latest album, "Lovers and Leavers," uses the loss of love (a recent divorce) and love for his son as motivation for lyrics that are… Continue reading
Aug 11 Here are Obama's top songs of the summer By Associated Press The president dropped a playlist on Twitter. Chance the Rapper, Prince, the Beach Boys and Billie Holiday all made the cut. Continue reading
Aug 08 Watch 6:35 3 solo artists describe the 'excellent exercise' of musical collaboration By PBS News Hour hey were used to being in charge of their own voices, their own lyrics, their own paths. But recently, singers Neko Case, K.D. Lang and Laura Veirs put autonomy aside to form a single group. The goal was to create… Continue watching
Jul 13 Culture, not biology, decides the difference between music and noise By Lora Strum A new study shows only cultures previously exposed to western music form opinions on consonance and dissonance, an element of music theory that establishes consonant chords as more aurally pleasing… Continue reading
Jun 28 All-male choir at Detroit school shares a hopeful vision By WTVS, Detroit Public Television The Vision Male Ensemble from Detroit provides training and mentorship for boys at the Detroit School of the Arts. Continue reading
Jun 24 Watch 2:39 Remembering Ralph Stanley and his 'God-given voice' By PBS News Hour After a long battle with skin cancer, bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley died overnight at the age of 89. Since forming his first band in 1946, Stanley’s haunting voice came to epitomize the bluegrass genre’s “High Lonesome” sound, and he won… Continue watching
Jun 21 Watch 4:30 Why Cole Porter's melodies and lyrics produce musical magic By PBS News Hour The sophisticated rhymes and erudite imagery of Cole Porter’s lyrics made him one of the nation’s preeminent songsmiths. But an overlooked element of Porter’s legacy is the music underlying those lyrics, which Rob Kapilow argues is essential to understanding the… Continue watching
Jun 14 Column: A banker-turned-banjo player finds payoff in her passion By Alison Brown Here’s a story you don’t hear too often: An investment banker leaves it all behind to become a touring banjo player. Alison Brown is a three-time Grammy winner, a USA Artists fellow and co-founder of Nashville-based Compass Records. But she… Continue reading
Jun 02 Watch 6:18 Judy Collins still turn, turn, turning with new album at 77 By Anne Azzi Davenport, Jeffrey Brown Folk legend Judy Collins, known for her critically acclaimed covers of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” and Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” has been making music since the 1960s. Now, at the age of 77, she is still going… Continue watching