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Soundcheck

WNYC, New York Public Radio, brings you Soundcheck, the arts and culture program hosted by John Schaefer, who engages guests and listeners in lively, inquisitive conversations with established and rising figures in New York City"s creative arts scene. Guests come from all disciplines, including pop, indie rock, jazz, urban, world and classical music, technology, cultural affairs, TV and film. Recent episodes have included features on Michael Jackson,Crosby Stills & Nash, the Assad Brothers, Rackett,

arts performing arts

All Episodes

00:35:07

Adventurous Harpist Lara Somogyi Weaves Time...

Soundcheck ·

2026/10/05

California-based harpist Lara Somogyi may be classically trained, but there’s nothing classical about her approach to making music. She surrounds herself with several effects pedals to expand the sound of her harp into an otherworldly orchestra.Between her technical skillset and deep understanding of electronic music production, Somogyi has carved a path of her own, both as a session musician recording for film and TV scores such as Hans Zimmer’s The Lion King and the Netflix series Bridgerton, as

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00:51:00

Best of Soundcheck: Steve Earle, Anjimile

Soundcheck ·

2026/10/02

Hardships tend to take time to overcome, and some songwriters turn to music to process their emotions as they move from one battle to the next. Two of those songwriters are Steve Earle and Anjimile, who come from very different walks of life. Steve Earle has earned multiple Grammy Awards and an induction into the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville after spending decades reflecting on his experiences as an activist, actor, and a man who happened to go through seven marriages and spend a couple of months in

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00:34:56

Song-Maker Somi Refuses to Fit Inside Any Artistic...

Soundcheck ·

2026/10/01

During her two-decade career, the singer, actor, playwright and two-time NAACP Image Award winner Somi has blended the sounds of American and African music – jazz and R&B, but also Afrobeat, folksong, and highlife. Her last album was a tribute to the South African singer Miriam Makeba; that record also served as a companion to an Off-Broadway musical that Somi wrote – under her full name Somi Kakoma, called Dreaming Zenzile.Now a Harvard PhD recipient (the Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry

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00:34:43

Australian Singer-Songwriter Grace Cummings Brings a...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/28

Australian singer Grace Cummings is the kind of songwriter who believes in the spontaneity of the creative process. “I’m a loner. I talk to myself a lot,” she says, and amid those internal conversations, she stumbles upon some mistakes that eventually lead to good writing. She’s no longer a stranger to how songs make their way out of her brain, having already recorded four albums. Her latest record, titled Bloodhorse!, is filled with snapshots of her tumultuous emotions, referencing both religious

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00:51:08

Best of Soundcheck: Guitarricadelafuente, Donnie...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/27

Blackstar was David Bowie’s last record, a musical farewell, and it featured the sax player Donny McCaslin.In fact, Bowie ended up using Donny McCaslin’s whole band for that album. The experience led McCaslin to expand his already restless musical palette, and on this episode of Soundcheck, he brings his quintet to our studio to play some of his post-Bowie tunes. There's also a visit with Guitarricadelafuente, a rising young Spanish singer and guitarist with a couple of high profile collaborations

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00:36:20

Ever-Shifting Guitarist Wendy Eisenberg Dares With...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/24

Wendy Eisenberg is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, improviser, and songwriter who uses guitar, pedals, the tenor banjo, the computer, the synthesizer and the voice. They are also a professor of songwriting, and a constant collaborator in many different circles: with the improvising trio Squanderers, an art rock band called Editrix, and the minimalism-inspired guitar quartet led by Bill Orcutt, to name a few. Their latest album, also called Wendy Eisenberg, is full of tracks that almost present as

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00:37:10

Everlast Dishes Out Gritty Humanity in Blues-Rock...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/21

The artist known as Everlast was the lead rapper in the group House of Pain, whose single “Jump Around” remains one of hip hop’s most familiar songs.But in the 1990s he began adding bluesy guitars to his songs, creating enormous hits like “Put Your Lights On,” his collaboration with Santana, and the plea for empathy called “What It’s Like.”Everlast is still writing songs, and his latest album – his first in eight years, Embers To Ashes, was produced by Yelawolf and recorded in Nashville. It’s a

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00:50:58

Best of Soundcheck: Annahstasia, Patrick Wolf

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/20

It’s common for songwriting artists to process their emotions through composing music. LA-based folk singer Annahstasia spent many years crafting her debut album, Tether, doing just that, without a metronome guiding her: “We’re human beings in a room following our heartbeats and the natural rhythm that we feel together… My production style is essentially like energy doula-ing,” she says. As for English baroque pop experimentalist Patrick Wolf, the making of his latest album, Crying the Neck, as well

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00:38:35

Norwegian Chord Progression Artist Sondre Lerche...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/17

Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche defines himself as a “chord progression artist”: “You establish a pattern, and then of course, you have to break it,” he says. This line of thinking is likely what drives him to disrupt the normal sequence of his daily life too, by staying out all night before a recording session, just to tap into the right emotion for a song the next day. Some artists don’t respond well to structure while creating and Sondre Lerche is definitely one of them. Whether he’s

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00:38:01

Indie Rock Band Shearwater Performs Cerebral Songs...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/14

Shearwater is the project of singer, songwriter, and ornithologist, Jonathan Meiburg, who recently took a trip to the Antarctica to study the “the bizarre life of the polar seafloor” and wrote a book called A Most Remarkable Creature : The Hidden Life of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey. As he made significant attempts at understanding his natural surroundings, Meiburg also had several collaborators in Shearwater. Now, he’s back with a new album titled, The New World, joined by pianist Emily Lee

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00:51:00

Best of Soundcheck: Sofia Rei, Mike Doughty

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/13

Folk music is known to be the music of the people, but it can sound vastly different from region to region. There are also songs that take inspiration from folk music but fall under a different genre altogether. For American singer-songwriter Mike Doughty, who is a founding member of the cult 90s band Soul Coughing, the art of storytelling found a home in alternative rock music. As for the Argentine recording artist and educator Sofia Rei, using electronics to blur the lines between traditional

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00:35:39

Recording Artist and Actor Saul Williams Speaks...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/10

Saul Williams is many things. A poet, a musician, an actor, and a writer, embodying multiple forms of art in his existence. He’s the preacher in the Oscar-winning 2025 film, Sinners. He’s the conceiver of several books, including his latest title, Songs My Mother Taught Me: Why the Artist Must Take Sides. And now, after seven long years, Williams is back with a new album called Leap Year, in which he uses his voice in more ways than one. He sings and speaks his contemplative words, often relying on

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00:27:35

Quiet Reflection in Acoustic Songs by Daughter of...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/07

North Carolina singer and guitarist Alex Sauser-Monnig records under the name Daughter of Swords, in which they "combine the eerie sound of old Appalachian folk music with elegant guitar playing and touches of lo-fi pop." (John Schaefer) They're also part of the alternative folk trio Mountain Man, a group of singers whose precise harmonies offersongs of warmth, belonging, and community. Sauser-Monnig’s record, Dawnbreaker, a homespun country-pop offering of vulnerability, brings liberation to the

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00:51:00

Best of Soundcheck: Paris Paloma, Cautious Clay

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/06

Some musicians make ambitious records that dig into the depths of meaning behind art, mythology, time, or life itself. Two of those musicians are the British singer-songwriter Paris Paloma and the American alternative R&B producer Cautious Clay. Both musical adventurers sit down with our host, John Schaefer, to chat about their latest works and perform intimate live sets exclusively for Soundcheck. Hear how hitmaker Paris Paloma’s career progressed after her viral hit, “Labour”, and the process

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00:50:17

Fearless Creative Expression and Lived Experience...

Soundcheck ·

2026/09/03

Trumpeter and bandleader Arturo Sandoval is a Latin music legend who began his career as a co-founder of the essential Cuban band Irakere and since moving to the States has incorporated the sounds of soul, jazz, funk, and Afrobeat into his music. Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and his life was the subject of the film For Love Or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, with Andy Garcia starring as Arturo.The real Arturo Sandoval was born in Cuba, defected to America with the

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00:32:01

Ghost Hounds Conjures Bluesy Roots-Rock In-Studio

Soundcheck ·

2026/08/31

Ghost Hounds is a Pittsburgh-basedblues-rock band with a sound that may remind you of classic early 70s bands like The Rolling Stones.In fact, they’ve opened for the Stones and do a cover of that band’s song “Gimme Shelter” on the new Ghost Hounds album.But most of their music is original and their latest record, called Justified, is full of apocalyptic imagery and songs that swagger their way through the End Of Days.Ghost Hounds brings a rootsy, intimate version of the band to play these new songs,

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00:51:43

Best of Soundcheck: Dessa, Omar Offendum

Soundcheck ·

2026/08/30

For this episode of Soundcheck, the rapper, singer, and author Dessa gets political, and Syrian-American rapper Omar Offendum gets historical. Minneapolis-raised singer and rapper known as Dessa has found a way to reflect modern society with scathing satire and wry humor, in both her songs and in her essays and poems. Her explicit commentary on the state of American politics, along with digressions on art, science, business, love, failure, and creativity fuel her latest songs, which she performs

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00:34:40

From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival: Gyan Riley;...

Soundcheck ·

2026/08/27

Listen to a sampling of some of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival,with pieces by Gyan Riley and an arrangement of Debussy by Australian guitarist brothers Ziggy & Miles, plus, recorded live in August at Bryant Park.Gyan Riley is the son of the groundbreaking minimalist composer Terry Riley, and began as the guitarist in his father’s All-Star Band. He plays all the guitars - electric, classical, and bass– with chamber music elegance and brilliant virtuosity. He was joined by drummer Kenny

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00:42:15

From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival: Goran...

Soundcheck ·

2026/08/24

Listen to a sampling of some of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival, with pieces by the duo of Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque and Pierre Bensusan recorded live in August at Bryant Park.Guitarist Goran Ivanovic is Croatian-born, while Fareed Haque is of Pakistani and Chilean descent. Both now live in Chicago, and their music is a deep dish pie of South Asian, Latin, and Balkan ingredients, liberally spiced with improvisation. Hear some of their Balkan-South Asian-Latin fusion, recorded live at the

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00:51:47

Best of Soundcheck: Public Service Broadcasting; Em Spel

Soundcheck ·

2026/08/23

The London band Public Service Broadcasting makes music out of history: the space race, the UK mining industry, and now, the final flight of Amelia Earhart, have all been turned into albums. Public Service Broadcasting plays live. Then, hear Em Spel, the folk-rock singer from Chicago, also known as Emma Hospelhorn, a classical flutist who is a member of Chicago’s experimental chamber music collective Ensemble Dal Niente. When she steps into the universe of her solo project, Em Spel, she writes and

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309 results

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