Jenn Wasner of Flock of Dimes and Wye Oak takes you through why Joni Mitchell's "Amelia" both comforts and terrifies her. And Lucy Dacus explains how the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" is a friendly ghost in her life, and how Prince's "I Would Die 4 You," helped expand her idea of how cool a song about God could be.

Professional Partier Andrew W.K. explores one of the most deeply embedded songs in American culture -- The Star Spangled Banner. As he breaks down how this lyrically archaic a technically difficult song works as a stirring National Anthem, you may realize that you have your own connection to the song.

Vickie Howell has been bringing knitting to the people since the early days of the internet. Hear how her roots in the DIY SoCal punk scene watching bands like Pennywise, Social Distortion and Bad Religion influenced her work with Austin Craft Mafia and continues to inspire her as she embarks on her new project -- "The Knit Show with Vickie Howell."

Sundara Karma's lead singer and songwriter Oscar Pollock describes how his new found love of Nick Drake's second record Bryter Later has been pushing his writing into more vulnerable and authentic territory. And drummer Haydn Evans delves into his enduring love for the Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds."

When Alex Maas from The Black Angels heard avant garde electronic pop band Silver Apples' first record in a bar in Cincinnati he had what he describes as a spiritual experience. Listen as he describes the effect that Silvers Apples had on The Black Angels music and how their new record "Death Song" has been an exercise in trying to understand the world we live in now.

There’s no denying that St. Paul and the Broken Bones are full of soul, and in this episode you get a little taste of where it all came from. From a cappella versions of “Amazing Grace”, to Otis Redding and Miles Davis, the Alabama-based bands depth of spirit is influenced by passionate, emotional music. “Being able […]

Hannah Joy, lead singer and songwriter of the Australian trio Middle Kids, talks about how Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac inspires her as a female artist and describes why she decided to transition from a solo piano based artist to a guitar playing leader of a band.

In this This Song rerun from 2016, you’ll hear Benjamin Booker in the time between his first self titled record  and his new album Witness.  The artists explains the profound influence William Onyeabor’s “Why Go to War” had on him, and why he’s  ready to weave politics into his work. Photo: Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon/KUTX Subscribe via the Podcasts […]

Vickie Howell just released her new web series “The Knit Show with Vickie Howell.”  The project, which Howell conceived and developed, was funded through a successful crowdfunding campaign.  Hear how the So-Cal punk scene inspired her life as a DIY entrepreneur, and how she’s working to inspire us all to “DIY your dreams.” Subscribe via […]

This year, Austin's Walker Lukens released his second album Tell It To The Judge, produced by Spoon's Jim Eno. It's a hook-laden mix of pop, rock, electronic, and obtuse lyrics, music that you can emotionally understand without necessarily literally understanding. Listen as Lukens describes how Fleetwood Mac's "Sara" works in a similar way for him, and hear how it's gotten him through some tough times.

Adrian Galvin, aka Yoke Lore, explores how singing "In the Window" with his family as a child during Hanukkah opened his eyes to the deeply connective possibilities of music. And you'll definitely want to hear his theory about music and magic.

Lukas Nelson describes how Neil Young's album Tonight's the Night inspired him to pursue a career in music, and how it has helped him live his bliss.

Philipp Dausch and Clemens Rehbein from the German indie folk group Milky Chance explain how Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarist John Frusciante's "A Name" and the unreleased Bob Marley demo "Rumors" helped them clarify how direct and raw they wanted their own music to be.

Born Ruffians' Luke Lalonde explores why he loves John Prine's "Far From Me" and describes the deep impact his father has had on his musical journey.

The Breeders guitar player and singer Kelley Deal describes how watching Jimmy Page play guitar in Led Zeppelin's concert film The Song Remains the Same exploded her mind and gave her a template for the kind of sonically adventurous musician she would later become.

On this episode, Austin's Shakey Graves talks about his childhood love of the "Overture" from Phantom of the Opera and how it helped him explore his own theatricality on his latest album, Can't Wake Up.

Chase Weinach, of the band Austin band Marmalakes, describes how hearing Rilo Kiley's "A Better Son/Daughter" when he was going through a tough time in his mid-twenties helped him realize he was not alone.

John Cusack how listening to The Clash's "Armagideon Time" as a teenager opened him up both politically and musically and how he knew which songs to put in the movie "High Fidelity."

Austin Artist Jake Lloyd describes how hearing Tony! Toni! Tone!'s "Let's Get Down" as a kid made him realize that he wanted to be a musician and describes what it's like to be working as an artist in Austin's burgeoning hip-hop and R&B scene.

The new movie, BLAZE, about legendary singer and songwriter Blaze Foley, comes out on September 21st. Listen as Ethan Hawke and Ben Dickey describe why they love the music of Blaze Foley and what led them to make a movie about his life.

Rapper and songwriter Duckwrth talks about how "If 6 was 9" by Jimi Hendrix opened his mind to the universe, why San Francisco and psychedelia call to him and what the key to finding peace might be.

Nik Ewing, leader of the band Chewing and bass player and vocalist for Local Natives, explains why he chose to cover Dennis Wilson's solo album "Pacific Ocean Blue" in it's entirety. This project is part of Turntable Kitchen's Sounds Delicious series.

Hrishikesh Hirway describes how hearing Asha Bhosle’s “Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera,” at the age of 6 helped him understand a feeling that he would be able to draw inspiration from for his entire life. Then Thao Nguyen explains how Lucinda Williams helped her understand the power of "the good hurt."

Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall tells us how seeing Beck's Loser on MTV as a kid pushed her to pursue her own music and how his willingness to experiment with styles and genres continues to inspire her.

Jackie Venson explains how seeing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," from the movie Evita, changed the way she listened to music and the way she saw herself.

Amanda Palmer explores how seeing Nick Cave's performance of "Magneto" in the documentary "On More Time With Feeling" showed her how powerful inviting an audience into deeply personal experiences could be. "The ability too walk into the dark and carefully take people with you is why we do our jobs."

Cautious Clay explains how the video for Outkast's "B.O.B" blew his mind as a 7 year old and tells us how that experience continues to have a profound impact on his own work, especially on his new project "Table of Context."

Austin's Pocket Sounds is the solo project of singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and arranger Mike St Clair. Listen as he describes how hearing Dionne Warwick's version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"  at a kiddie pool party inspired him to meld the classical, jazz, pop and rock parts of himself, and influenced his new song "Radio Song."

Our May Artist of the Month- The Bishops explain that hearing "Soundtrack to My Life" by Kid Cudi for the first time as middle schoolers changed what they thought hip-hop music could be.

Timothy Showalter, who leads the folk-rock band Strand of Oaks describes how hearing David Bowie's "Lazarus" at the end of the recording process helped him see how powerful documenting dark times could be.

On this episode of This Song, Elizabeth McQueen sits down with Eric Burton, the lead singer of Black Pumas to talk about what he learned about honesty an connection from Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and how went  from busking on the Santa Monica Pier to fronting the Black Pumas in Austin Texas.

On the last episode of This Song until the fall, Krissy Teegerstrom, a self-made artist, creative consultant, podcaster, and designer at Featherweight Studio talks about how listening to "Mojo Pin" by Jeff Buckley transported her to a place beyond the real and showed her how to follow her creative intuition.

Ezra Koenig, lead singer and songwriter for the band Vampire Weekend, explains why he recently became obsessed with  "I Don't Think Much About Her No More" by country singer and songwriter Mickey Newbury and explores what it was like to apply country music's direct approach to songwriting to some of the the songs on Father of the Bride.

Carrie Brownstein explains how "Stay" by Rhianna inspired her to write the last track on Sleater-Kinney's latest record,"Broken." 

This Song host Elizabeth McQueen has been helping produce a new podcast called The Breaks.  Every Saturday from 10pm-1am, Confucius and Fresh host a hip-hop show on KUTX called The Breaks. And now every Monday at 2pm the world can hear highlights from their wide ranging conversations about all things hip-hop, Austin’s hip-hop and R&B scenes […]

Indie electronic duo Matt and Kim talk about how "The Mullet Burden" by The Dillinger Escape Plan showed them how intense music could be.

King Princess describes how  listening to "Cosmic Dancer" by T. Rex as a kid made her feel seen, helped her understand her gender and  showed her how music could transport the listener to another place and time.

Come to Waterloo Records Thursday, November 21st at 4pm for a live taping of the This Song podcast. Singer, songwriter and author Allison Moorer will talk about a song that changed her life, and talk about her new book and companion album, Blood. The event is FREE and open to the public.

In this episode of This Song, originally published last February, Jackie Venson talks about how "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita changed the way she listened to music and thought about herself.

Kathy Valentine, bass player in the seminal 80s all-girl rock group the Go-Go's, recently wrote a memoir titled All I Ever Wanted. In this episode of, Kathy explains what "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream taught her about herself when she was 9 years old,  describes how she found her creative process as an author and details how music and storytelling intersected in her new book.

On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Austin, Texas Fire Chief Joel G. Baker, Austin’s first African American Fire Department Chief, whose career includes more than 30 years in Atlanta, including 3 years as fire chief there

This week on In Black America, producer and host Joh L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Federal Judge Damon J. Keith, with Peter J. Hammer, Wayne State University Law professor and author of Crusader for Justice: Federal Judge Damon J. Keith.

On this week’s In Black America program, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and prostate cancer survivor Mike Haynes, about his 14 year NFL career, his cancer recovery, and his Know Your Stats campaign.

On this week’s edition of In Black America, John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Motown legends Abdul “Duke” Fakir, a founding member of The Four Tops, and Mary Wilson, a founding member of the Supremes. Both were participants in The Summit on Race in America this Spring, at the University of Texas at Austin.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Charles Whitaker , journalist and newly appointed Dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

This week, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the introduction of the new Black News Channel with Gary Wordlaw, Vice President of News and Programming. Also featured is former Congressman J.C. Watts, co-founder and Chairman of the Black News Channel.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Martin Luther King, Jr, on the 90th anniversary of his birth, featuring Dr. King, and the Honorable Andrew Young and former U.S. President Barack Obama.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a discussion of the rich history of Black college football and its contributions to the National Football League with Dr. Derrick E. White, Associate Professor of History and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky.

Ms. Reade’s former husband said she spoke of a sexual harassment problem she had when working in Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s Senate office. Mr. Biden has denied her allegation of sexual assault.

A key Senate committee has scheduled a vote on the long-stalled nomination of Michael Pack, an ally of Stephen K. Bannon, to run the agency in charge of the Voice of America. Employees are worried.