World Cafe

Sharon Van Etten had had a streak of impressive solo records dating back to her debut, Because I Was in Love, but on her new album, the backing band became the band, period. They’re called The Attachment Theory and it’s the most collaborative record Van Etten’s made to date. Coming up, Sharon and bassist Devra Hoff join World Cafe to talk about taking a sonic trust fall and share live performances from their self-titled debut.

Matt Farley has written over 25,000 songs – some about food, some about celebrities, some about body parts, birthdays, or animals. He may have a song with your name in it. Together, those songs have racked up millions of streams online. On the next World Cafe, Farley talks about why he writes so much and about the accusation that he is not an artist, but a “song spammer.”

Chuck Prophet dove deeply into Cumbia music during the COVID lockdowns and while being treated for Stage 4 lymphoma. Healthy again, he has released an album called Wake the Dead with the Cumbia group ¿Qiensave? and is out touring. On the next World Cafe, he talks about what Cumbia has in common with punk music and what encouraged him to follow his love of Cumbia on the new album.

Will Marsh left his home in Virginia during the pandemic and headed south to New Orleans. It was there that he retooled his band, Gold Connections, and headed into the studio to make Fortune, a dynamic indie rock record that carries the DNA of old Virginia and the modern spirit of New Orleans. Coming up, Gold Connections joins us for a mini concert, playing songs from Fortune.

Oasis are back together, and on the next World Cafe, revisit Liam Gallagher’s 2019 stop by the show, where he talked about his album, Why Me? Why Not. Liam also looks back on the first Oasis album, Definitely Maybe, and shares what song from that record meant the most to him.

Every artist’s discography tells a story. On a new Backtracking, Keith Urban looks back at his entire catalogue and tells stories about songs that played a special role in his life and career: the song that changed everything, the song he wrote in just one sitting, the song that surprised him and made him cry, and more. That’s next time on World Cafe.

Each January, music lovers head to the Emerald Coast in sunny Northwestern Florida to bask in the musical warmth of the 30A Songwriter’s Festival. But you don’t need a plane ticket to enjoy it. On the next World Cafe, hear performances by Maggie Rose, Gary Louris, and Jontavious Willis, recorded live at this year’s 30A Songwriter’s Festival.

Do you ever wonder what kind of world we’re leaving for the next generation? That question is woven into the latest album from Tim Heidecker & The Very Good Band, called Slipping Away. On the next World Cafe, Tim Heidecker and Very Good Band bassist Eliana Athayde talk about writing songs that explore anxiety, fatherhood, and the post-apocalypse, and about how much fun they have working together. They also perform live.

Everything Is Recorded is the musical project of Richard Russell, a record producer, and the owner of XL Recordings. His new album, Temporary, features appearances from Sampha, Alabaster DePlume, Noah Cyrus, Florence Welch, Kamasi Washington, and many more. Richard Russell joins us to answer the question: “What if folk had gone digital in the 80’s”, on the next World Cafe.

On Hurray for the Riff Raff’s latest album, The Past is Still Alive, Alynda Segarra is a reanimator – casting the old American cowboy myth in a new light, crafting heroic legends for long lost friends of theirs, and finding ways to commune with their father, who they lost right before making the record. On the next World Cafe, revisit a session with Hurray for the Riff Raff as they gear up to restart their tour this May.