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Jewly Hight NPR Music contributor. Jewly Hight

Wednesday November 26, 2025

Carrie Underwood performs onstage during a celebration of the Grand Ole Opry's centennial on March 19, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Music

At 100 years old, the Grand Ole Opry is the keeper of country music's legacy

November 26, 2025 • One hundred years ago this week, the radio barn dance that came to be known as the Grand Ole Opry was first broadcast from Nashville. Being part of the show still matters to country artists today.

At 100 years old, the Grand Ole Opry is the keeper of country music's legacy

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Thursday November 6, 2025

Zach Top, performing at CMA Fest 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. in July 2025, is among the musicians who may benefit from the Grammy Awards' decision to introduce a "traditional" country award at next year's ceremony. Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Music

For country music traditionalists, Grammy changes promise a brighter spotlight

November 6, 2025 • Starting with this year's nominations, the Grammy Awards will split its prize for country album of the year into two distinct categories: traditional and contemporary.

What the Grammy Awards' new country music category means for musicians

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Sunday October 19, 2025

The Museum of Christian & Gospel Music opened this month in Nashville. Jewly Hight/Nashville Public Radio hide caption

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Religion

New Museum of Christian & Gospel Music honors a diversity of music with a message

October 19, 2025 • Gospel music has always played a big role in American culture. Now, the music's wide-ranging history is being celebrated at Nashville's new Museum of Christian & Gospel Music.

A new museum in Nashville celebrates gospel music's contribution to American culture

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Friday August 29, 2025

After making two critically acclaimed, musically adventurous albums in the early 2010s, Alabama Shakes went on a hiatus that stretched nearly a decade, while lead singer Brittany Howard (center) released solo work. Now, Howard and guitarist Heath Fogg (left) and bassist Zac Cockrell have reunited to tour and release new music, starting with the song "Another Life." Bobbi Rich hide caption

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Music

After a decade away, Alabama Shakes return with a new song, 'Another Life'

August 29, 2025 • "Not everything powerful is loud," Brittany Howard says when asked what the reunited band members wanted to explore with their new music. "Not everything quiet is vulnerable."

Friday April 25, 2025

Between founding the string and jug band Carolina Chocolate Drops and winning a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur grant, Rhiannon Giddens has become one of folk music's foremost advocates for understanding the crucial role of Black musicians in the history of American roots music. This weekend, a North Carolina-based festival that she curated, Biscuits & Banjos, will feature dozens of Black artists performing and speaking on panels about their experiences in the genre. Karen Cox hide caption

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Music

Carolina to 'Cowboy Carter' and back: A celebration of Black roots music finds a home

April 25, 2025 • For musicians like Rhiannon Giddens and Rissi Palmer, trying to break down doors in the folk and country music scenes has been a long road. A festival in Durham this weekend aims to remedy that.

Sunday April 13, 2025

Theater

Live, country music stage show 'Grand Ole Opry' turns 100

April 13, 2025 • The Grand Ole Opry is turning 100. The stage show is celebrating the milestone all year long by welcoming new and seasoned performers.

Live, country music stage show 'Grand Ole Opry' turns 100

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Thursday November 21, 2024

Bailey Zimmerman performs during the 58th annual CMA Awards on Nov. 20, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Theo Wargo/Getty Images hide caption

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Music

In a year of blockbuster crossovers, the CMAs double down on country continuity

November 21, 2024 • The three-hour show was an ode to the robustness and stability of country music. But the genre dominated charts and discourse this year thanks to pop superstars Beyoncé, Post Malone and Shaboozey.

Who won at the 2024 Country Music Awards?

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Monday August 26, 2024

Shelby Lynne Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music

She's still Shelby Lynne

August 26, 2024 • The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter returned to Nashville to find a community of women determined to resurrect her career.

Thursday April 25, 2024

The anonymous producer Ghostwriter, seen here in February at a Grammy party at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, created a stir in 2023 with the single "Heart on My Sleeve," which used deepfake technology to re-create the voices and styles of Drake and The Weeknd without either artist's involvement or permission. JC Olivera/Getty Images hide caption

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Music Features

AI music isn't going away. Here are 4 big questions about what's next

WPLN News

April 25, 2024 • Tennessee just passed the first U.S. law regulating generative AI in music. But the technology, adept at copying real artists' voices and styles, is moving too quickly for one law to keep up with.

AI music isn't going away. Here are 4 big questions about what's next

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Monday April 8, 2024

Technology

Tennessee lawmakers move to regulate AI and deepfakes

April 8, 2024 • A Tennessee bill seeks to ban unauthorized deepfakes and regulate how AI platforms use copyrighted material to train algorithms without permission.

Tennessee lawmakers move to regulate AI and deepfakes

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Saturday April 6, 2024

Technology

Tennessee became the first state to protect musicians from generative AI

April 6, 2024 • A Tennessee bill seeks to ban unauthorized deepfakes and regulate how AI platforms use copyrighted material to train algorithms without permission.

Tennessee became the first state to protect musicians from generative AI

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Friday November 17, 2023

What Now, the second solo album from Brittany Howard, is out Feb. 9. Bobbi Rich/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music Interviews

Brittany Howard is going to make her dreams come true

November 17, 2023 • The Alabama Shakes singer exploded preconceptions with her 2019 solo debut. On What Now, a follow-up born from a few years of life-quaking resets, she's ready to leave any remaining limits behind.

Brittany Howard is going to make her dreams come true

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Thursday November 9, 2023

Music News

History was made at the Country Music Awards in Nashville

November 9, 2023 • Luke Combs' cover of Tracy Chapman's 1988 hit "Fast Car" won single of the year. Chapman got song of the year — making her the first Black songwriter to win in that category.

History was made at the Country Music Awards in Nashville

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Tuesday September 19, 2023

Collage by Jackie Lay. Erika Goldring / Frazer Harrison / Kevork Djansezian / Stefani Reynolds / Jason Kempin / Tom Cooper / Terry Wyatt / Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images hide caption

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Music

Allison Russell broke through Americana's walls. She wants to hold the door open

WPLN News

September 19, 2023 • Two years ago, Allison Russell's breakthrough album took the roots music world by storm. Now nominated for the genre's highest honor, Russell has a new goal: to open Americana up even more.

Thursday August 24, 2023

For Left Hand, Becca Mancari produced the album themselves, creating their most expansive work yet. Sophia Matinazad/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Music Reviews

Becca Mancari fights for their existence with an expanded pop palette

August 24, 2023 • On Left Hand, Mancari positions themselves in the eye of sonic storms to communicate emotional truths with startling clarity.

Thursday August 17, 2023

Be Your Own Pet has reunited and recorded Mommy, out Aug. 25, a nervy new album that's funkier, keener and more muscular than any of BYOP's previous work. Kirsten Barnett hide caption

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Music Interviews

Be Your Own Pet's Jemina Pearl rages on

August 17, 2023 • In the mid-2000s, Be Your Own Pet's frenetic punk sneered at the trappings of adulthood. The group returns after a 15-year hiatus with Mommy, an album that builds on its oppositional beginnings.

Wednesday May 10, 2023

Verve Forecast / Republic Records

Review

Music Reviews

Joy Oladokun sings for everyone — especially herself — on 'Proof of Life'

WPLN News

May 10, 2023 • In Oladokun's new songs, facets of who she is and what she's lived, seen and imagined provide entry points to her homey pop music.

Monday May 1, 2023

"I was told by the world I wasn't allowed to write classic country, even though I'd written so much of it and I loved doing it," Mya Byrne says of her new album, Rhinestone Tomboy, which melds her punk sensibility with polished songwriting. Tui Jordan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music Features

How Mya Byrne paved her long, winding road to country music with grit and sparkle

WPLN News

May 1, 2023 • Mya Byrne loved country music since her childhood in New Jersey. But it took years of searching and traveling to lead to the place where she could make her new album, Rhinestone Tomboy.

How Mya Byrne paved her long, winding road to country music with grit and sparkle

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Tuesday April 4, 2023

"We check in with each other all the time," says Michael Trotter Jr. of The War and Treaty. "I believe that what you hear with the record is a deeper understanding of who we are becoming to each other." Austin Hargrave hide caption

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Music Interviews

The War and Treaty's songs of ardent commitment find deeper clarity on 'Lover's Game'

April 4, 2023 • On the duo's latest album, its first full-length released on a major country label, Tanya and Michael Trotter Jr. sing piano-driven originals with a grown-up sense of devotion.

Tuesday March 21, 2023

At Monday night's Love Rising event in Nashville, Tenn., artists including Allison Russell, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Joy Oladokun and Amanda Shires, along with drag artists, united against new legislation targeting drag performances and transgender people. Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Music Features

Tennessee musicians grapple with potential impact of new anti-drag legislation

WPLN News

March 21, 2023 • Due to a new Tennessee law limiting drag performances, many drag artists, as well as trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming musicians, worry about their prospects in Nashville and beyond.

Hear WPLN's radio version of this story

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Friday February 24, 2023

Charley Crockett performs a Tiny Desk concert on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, at NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Michael Zamora/NPR/Michael Zamora/NPR hide caption

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Tiny Desk

Charley Crockett: Tiny Desk Concert

February 24, 2023 • In his vintage Stetson, the Texas troubadour performed a set of songs that find new meaning in familiar country, folk and blues forms.

Tuesday January 24, 2023

Adeem the Artist's new album, White Trash Revelry, captures fresh awareness of the scrutiny they receive for the array of identities they embody in life and in song. Madison Miles/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music Interviews

Adeem the Artist refines their ability to tell country tales from where they stand

January 24, 2023 • On White Trash Revelry, Adeem worked to understand their white, Southern, working-class, pansexual, nonbinary country songwriting identity — and they have some pretty great jokes about it.

Tuesday November 22, 2022

On CAZIMI, Caitlin Rose's first new album in nine years, the songwriter has found new ways to add to her music's depth and dimension. Laura E. Partain/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music Interviews

On Caitlin Rose's first album in 9 years, she's wistful, wiser and having fun again

November 22, 2022 • Rose's early records mixed country, pop and indie rock — a rare approach at the time. Now, she's released her lustrous new record, CAZIMI, into the musical landscape that she helped shape.

Saturday November 5, 2022

"I want to see more opportunities for women who have a message, who are dark-skinned," says Jessy Wilson, whose uplifting "Keep Rising" with Angélique Kidjo closes the historical epic The Woman King. Mary Caroline Russell hide caption

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Music Interviews

How a triumphant anthem for 'The Woman King' brought Jessy Wilson back to music

November 5, 2022 • Singer-songwriter Jessy Wilson was ready to walk away from music until her song "Keep Rising" was chosen as the closing anthem for the movie The Woman King.

How a triumphant anthem for 'The Woman King' brought Jessy Wilson back to music

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