folk music

(Runtime 4:36)By Doug Nadvornick Spokane Public Radio, Verne WindhamDan Maher, the folk singer and producer whose program aired for decades on KPBX and…

Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" has long been offered as an "alternative national anthem," performed by musicians from Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger to Chicano Batman and Sharon Jones. Its message seems fairly simple — we are all equally entitled to the rights of this country, including the land we stand on. But Native Americans will just as soon point out that the core of the song, that "this land was made for you and me," is a wholly colonialist message.

Since his first American concert, Zakir Hussain has become perhaps the most famous tabla player in the world. He now lives in California, and he says it was this performance 50 years ago that showed him that Indian classical music could be played in the West in its purest form. "It really set the tone of how I would present myself to my fellow musicians — whoever I was accompanying — for the rest of my life."

Thirty feet below the surface in Brooklyn, 10th grader Nora Brown brings incredible, surprising depth to the Appalachian music she plays. Over the course of her Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST concert, surrounded by innumerable globes and instruments, she infuses new life and energy into the traditional songs of Addie Graham, Virgil Anderson and Fred Cockerham.

One of the first artists to introduce North American audiences to her style of Latin American music, the folk singer was named a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow.

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, NPR Music's Ann Powers and Bob Boilen explore early works of Joni Mitchell and play selections from the new box set from Rhino

The symbols of America's racist past have been under intense scrutiny since the protests against police brutality erupted nationwide. Now, the traditional music community is having its own reckoning.

Smithsonian Folkways is beloved for its historic collection of recordings and ephemera from folk and roots traditions — but the label's archive of electronic music is just as formidable.

Veteran songwriters prove that it's possible to release poignant and powerful work late in an artist's career.

Hear the cellist talk about the purpose of music in the face of racial tension and health crises, plus his new album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo, which reunites him with old bluegrass buddies.