A mural honoring George Floyd and the larger Black Lives Matter movement is pictured on a wall of Native Hostel. It was created by local artist Chris Rogers. Michael Minasi/KUTX hide caption
Music Features In-depth storytelling from the NPR Music team.
Music Features
Kayhan Kalhor is an Iranian kamancheh virtuoso and composer whose work has been celebrated around the globe. Julia Gunther for NPR hide caption
The Pointer Sisters performing in New York City in 1983, the year the group released its album Break Out, which included four top 10 hits. Robin Platzer / Images Press/Getty Images hide caption
Maryanne Amacher, an artist and composer, is one of the women featured in the new documentary Sisters with Transistors. Peggy Weil/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Arlo Parks' album Collapsed in Sunbeams is a collage of joy, pain and heartbreak. Alex Kurunis/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
On 'Collapsed In Sunbeams,' Arlo Parks Welcomes Endings And Change
Sister Rosetta Tharpe performs onstage with the Lucky Millinder Orchestra, circa 1938. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption
The Black Roots of Rock and Roll: Part 1
"There's so many people who refuse to hear each other and refuse to understand," says Tamara Lindeman. "The album, I think, is in part about this process of moving through denial into understanding." Jeff Bierk/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Downtown Austin on St. Patrick's Day was almost empty amid Coronavirus concerns Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon/KUT News hide caption
Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" is considered an "alternative national anthem" — but Native Americans will just as soon point out that the core of the song is a colonialist message. John Springer Collection/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
Madlib, performing during Pitchfork Fest at Union Park in Chicago on July 19, 2015. Daniel Boczarski/Redferns via Getty Images hide caption
Trombonist Jonas Gwangwa performs in Sandton, South Africa in 2017. Veli Nhlapo \ Sowetan/Getty Images hide caption
Darlene Love in 1964. Love was the uncredited singer on a handful of the biggest hits produced by Phil Spector during the era when he was making his "Wall of Sound" production technique famous. ABC Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty hide caption
Palberta's album Palberta5000 is out Jan. 22. Chloe Carrasco/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Maria Schneider (center) whose album Data Lords was one of 2020's most acclaimed jazz albums, performs with her orchestra at the New York City club Jazz Standard, where the group had an 16-year annual Thanksgiving week performance that was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Gulnara Khamatova/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Pedal steel player Susan Alcorn, whose album with her quintet, Pedernal, was the pick for the best album of the year by Francis Davis, who runs the annual NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. David Lobato/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Dale Ann Bradley (left), Tina Adair, Gena Britt and Deanie Richardson (center) of the bluegrass band Sister Sadie do their impression of the rock band Queen. Jon Roncolato/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Tony Rice performs on stage during Bonnaroo 2009 in Manchester, Tenn.. Jason Merritt/TERM/FilmMagic hide caption
Annye Anderson — stepsister of Robert Johnson — published her memoir Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson in June. Ben James hide caption
'Brother Robert' Reveals True Story Of Growing Up With Blues Legend Robert Johnson
Composer James Newton Howard in 2008. Wim Lippens/Universal Pictures hide caption