Some of NPR’s top on-air talent will be on hand for an evening of interviews and performances with three hand-picked artists. The Record’s Ann Powers talks with singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, who has spent her celebrated career brewing a potent mix of blues, rock, and country. She’ll close the show with a rousing set of slow-burning soliloquies and driving rock anthems, accented by Louisiana twang, a bluesy growl, and an irrepressible rebellious streak. Bob Boilen of All Songs Considered invites alt-rock darling Thao Nguyen and her band, The Get Down Stay Down, to the stage. This San Francisco–based group, whose most recent album The Man Alive! was produced by Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs), gleefully layers garage rock, synth pop, noise, and funk. Cutting through it all are Thao’s piercing lyrics that often provide a dark counterpoint to the music’s effervescent rhythms and breaks. Alt.Latino hosts Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd present iLe, a.k.a. Ileana Cabra Joglar, who went by PG-13 when she performed with the multiple-Grammy and Latin Grammy–winning Puerto Rican rap group, Calle 13. Four years after her powerhouse rendition of the classic bolero “La Pared” started building buzz for a solo effort, iLe’s debut album, ilevitable, was recently released.
New York, NY