World Cafe

Kacey Musgraves’ new album finds the country star enchanted by liminal spaces: small towns and borders, but also the space in between life’s big moments. On the next World Cafe, Musgraves talks about what inspired Middle of Nowhere, breaking her country radio “dry spell,” and making amends with Miranda Lambert.

We’re already a third of the way through the year, and there has been a lot of great music released so far. On the next World Cafe, we’ll get you up to speed with some of the best releases of 2026, including music from Sturgill Simpson’s latest record under the name Johnny Blue Skies, as well as Jill Scott, Courtney Barnett, Flea and more.

Over the last 15 years, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong have become one of the premier attractions in the jam band world. For their latest album, Feed the Fire, the goal was to capture that live energy while recording in a studio environment. Coming up, the Baltimore funk and psychedelic four-piece join us for a mini concert playing songs from Feed the Fire. It’s Pigeons Playing Ping Pong on the next World Cafe.

The Black Keys are set to release their latest album, Peaches, this Friday. We’re looking back at a 2024 conversation with the band where they discussed their album, Ohio Players. Taking inspiration from their DJ gigs, the Akron duo invited a bunch of friends to play with them, including Beck and Noel Gallagher. Plus, hear live performances recorded at South by Southwest, on the next World Cafe.

Themes of impermanence and change run through The Former Site Of, the latest album from The New Pornographers. On the next World Cafe, Carl Newman and Kathryn Calder from the band talk about change: how their songwriting process has changed over the years, how they’ve dealt with a challenging year of changes, and they tell stories behind the new songs, some of which they perform live.

J Burton, a fixture in the Lafayette, Louisiana music scene for over 30 years, performs as Grand Nathaniel. Burton’s band makes lo-fi pop gems coated in myth and mystery. Our next Acadiana Music Showcase features the music of Grand Nathaniel. Join us for a mini concert with the band playing songs from their latest album, Lonely Wanderer. It’s Grand Nathaniel on the next World Cafe.

When we last spoke to Emily Haines and James Shaw of Metric in 2019, they’d recently hit a big milestone, turning 20 years old as a band. Coming up, the Canadian indie-rock band talks about making their first move to New York City on a Greyhound bus, as well as why they’ve always been an independent band and always will be. It’s Metric, in an Encore edition of the next World Cafe.

To make his dreams come true, Tyler Ballgame took a big swing. He moved from Rhode Island to Los Angeles with no plan, other than a job he’d gotten that he was totally unqualified for. On the next World Cafe, Tyler Ballgame talks about how taking that chance paid off, and the road that led to his debut album, For the First Time Again. Plus, he performs live.

Back in 1974, when Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook were in the early days of their band Squeeze, they recorded demos for an album about a fictional nightclub called “Trixies”. After rediscovering those demos, they decided to re-record the album 50 years later. Coming up, Tilbrook and Difford join World Cafe to talk about the joy of rediscovering the first songs they wrote together, and we’ll hear music from Trixies.

Superbloom is the third and final album in a trilogy from British artist Jessie Ware that has delved into themes of joy, pleasure, and desire. On the next World Cafe, Ware talks about why these feelings are worth celebrating, the empowerment that comes with that celebration, and how she’s decided to share more of her real life than ever before on this new record.