At the reinstatement of expelled Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones, a small gathering of Nashville musicians opened up the People's Songbook for a musically imperfect yet unforgettable Bob Dylan cover.

"We had basically farmed every nutrient we could out of the potential of this band's soil and we needed to let it rest," Sara Watkins says of the nine-year break between Nickel Creek albums.

The musician talks about the message behind her mesmerizing fifth studio album, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow.

The duo performs a set of dark yet hopeful songs filled with haunting harmonies and unique rhythms.

Over the last three decades, singer-songwriter Iris DeMent has gained a cult following of folk, gospel and country music fans.

The Nashville, by way of Los Angeles, singer and virtuoso guitarist experimented with punk and folk music for the last decade, often to dazzling results.

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Mark O'Connor about his memoir, Crossing Bridges, on his journey from multi-instrumentalist child prodigy to solo artist composing and performing on world stages.

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been offering life lessons to their fervent fans for nearly four decades; here, they play a set of stone-cold classics, including "Closer to Fine."

Molly Tuttle's new album is her third. But in many ways, it's a reintroduction – of her prodigious guitar talent, of her personal story, and to the Recording Academy that decides Grammy Awards.

As they have every year since 1986, members of the Hall will select from a group of nominees – though these days, the nominees tend to represent a wider spectrum of popular music.

Taraf de Caliu are the last generation of "lăutari" that carry on this authentic traditional music from southern Romania, the music that defined them as one of the best gypsy bands in the world.

The English singer-songwriter and her band give a cathartic, playful performance at the Tiny Desk.

The young proponent of traditional music brought a talented band, his astonishing imagination and a selection of what he calls "Black folk music from the future" to the Tiny Desk.

This year artists working within the orbit of the unstable category "roots music" got personal even as they explored complex cultural lineages and challenged the rules of established scenes and forms.

This year artists working within the orbit of the unstable category "roots music" got personal even as they explored complex cultural lineages and challenged the rules of established scenes and forms.