The Wonder Women of Country, a side project of busy Americana songwriter/artists Brennen Leigh, Kelly Willis and Melissa Carper, started in 2021 as a touring vehicle for three friends with compatible visions of country music. Fans have been loving it, and naturally they started asking if there was a recording to take home. The WWOC have made good on that desire with a self-titled EP, released on March 15.
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History was on Béla Fleck’s mind as he released Rhapsody In Blue on Feb. 16, the 100th anniversary of its 1924 premiere. It's a multi-faceted, album-length celebration of the great work of American music - and its adaptability. The centerpiece is a 19-minute classical version by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra with Fleck playing Gershwin’s tricky piano part on banjo. But there are blues and bluegrass versions of the piece too. Because even at age 65, when he could be coasting on all he’s done, Fleck still looks for apparently the hardest thing he could possibly try at any given time.
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Malcolm Holcombe, the brilliant and enigmatic songwriter whom Lucinda Williams called “an old soul and a modern-day blues poet” has died at 68 years old, after a battle with cancer and a late-life surge of creative fire. He passed away on Saturday near where he was raised in western North Carolina, but Holcombe jolted his way into the consciousness of many roots music lovers and practitioners during a spell in Nashville 25 years ago. In a music community characterized by polite songwriter rounds, Holcombe was unnervingly ferocious and feral - a mesmerizing performer and lyricist whose mix of gifts and demons invite worthy comparisons to Hank Williams and Townes VanZandt.
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In the 1990s, Paul Burch was among the pioneer artists who brought legit country music and old-school Music City values to Lower Broadway’s honky tonks. In the years since, he’s been an admired songwriter and performer while branching into scoring and production. Now he puts on yet another hat as he joins Middle Tennessee State University’s Center For Popular Music (CPM) as the manager of its non-profit, in-house label Spring Fed Records.
LINER NOTES
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Hear Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams' performance from their 30a session with WMOT.
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Grace Potter stopped by and performed a set for WMOT during this year's 30A Music Festival.
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Tinsley Ellis with Jessie Scott on March 6th.
WMOT VIDEO: LIVE SESSIONS ON NPR MUSIC
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Click here to watch Sarah Jarosz and John R. Miller LIVE at Riverside Revival for WMOT's Wired In series on April 3rd at 7 p.m. CST.
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Last week, Alex Harris and Katie Pruitt performed new music at Riverside Revival for WMOT's Wired In series. Watch highlights from their sets here.
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Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams performed "Desert Island Dreams", "A Little Better" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" at a beach house turned studio in Florida for WMOT's 2024 30A Songwriters Sessions.
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Grace Potter performed "Something That I Want", "Little Hitchhiker" and "Ready Set Go" at a beach house turned studio in Florida for WMOT's 2024 30A Songwriters Sessions.
NPR Top Stories
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In January, a door plug flew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane during a flight, leaving a hole in the fuselage, some of which are produced by Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc.
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An 8-year-old child is only survivor. The passengers were headed to an Easter festival before the bus plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames.
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A star-studded cast appeared with the former presidents and Biden, including Mindy Kaling, Ben Platt and Stephen Colbert hosting the event.
Win a pair of tickets to Drive-By Truckers at Ryman Auditorium on November 24, 2024.
The Malpass Brothers at The Franklin Theatre on April 13, 2024.
Win a pair of tickets to The Wood Brothers at Ryman Auditorium on April 4, 2024.
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