R.E.M. played its first concert there in 1980 and still draws fans to its hometown. A visit to Athens can be like a pilgrimage of the band's music.

Jason Isbell sings about his split from musician Amanda Shires on his latest album Foxes in the Snow. "What I was attempting to do is document a very specific time where I was going through a lot of changes," he says.

Even as the songs on Forever Is a Feeling chronicle a love that's come to fruition in public, Dacus still creates a particular kind of safe space for the fans who delight in swooning with her.

With a new album, Michelle Zauner tells NPR she is finally finding balance between all the things she yearns for: her career goals, a connection to family and a connection to her ancestral home of Korea.

In some ways, COVID shrank the distance between musicians and listeners. But then, it also threw nearly everything about the industry into disarray, and for many, things have never been the same.

Streaming has turned the once-rare deluxe edition into a given for pop albums. Many feel clunky or inessential — but a few artists have found ways to take the format high-concept.

At this year's 67th Grammys, wins for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in a year when other genres showcased rising stars prompt questions about who votes for rock at the Grammys — and what needs to be done for the awards to recognize new blood.

For most of the '00s, Panda Bear helped define the sound of youthful, ramshackle indie rock. On Noah Lennox's eighth album, Sinister Grift, the artist focuses on the shifting relationships and faltering memories of midlife, with a fleshed out band behind him.

Last week, the hottest ticket in NYC wasn't the SNL 50th anniversary concert. It was the three nights Paul McCartney played at a tiny downtown venue that usually hosts up-and-coming indie rock bands.

Part of a growing number of Black artists being embraced by the Nashville country-music machine, The War and Treaty is the husband-and-wife duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter. Their new album, Plus One, infuses country with gospel, bluegrass, rock and whatever else inspires them.