Following in the tradition of Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder we'll listen to and learn about new soul artists Leon Bridges, Paolo Nutini, Christian Gregory, Raphael Saadiq, and Curtis Harding.

Straddling the line between rock, folk, and country--Americana is a new music category that even has its own Grammy Award. Featuring banjo, fiddle, and other roots instruments we'll listen to music by The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, The Decemberists, Amos Lee, and to please the younger crowd we have a special guest who will tell us why she likes Philip Phillips. I like him too.

Rock out with new bands such as Dawes, Alabama Shakes, The Black Keys, Arcade Fire, and Queens of the Stone Age.

Sometimes a good soundtrack is the difference between a good movie and a great movie. Here are some songs that made that difference for me. You'll hear songs from movies such as Stealing Beauty, Silver Linings Playbook, Pulp Fiction, Harold and Maude, and The Bourne Identity.

Sometimes unusual music partnerships create great songs. We've got samples from Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris;The Shins and Gnarls Barlkey; Elvis Costello, and Burt Bacharach, and more.

5 Songs with good bass intros including a new song, "Killing Switch", from Last Lynx, and others from Death Cab for Cutie, Cake, The White Stripes, and The Clash.

In this episode I will look at the combination of Hip Hop and R&B in current music. We will hear some new music from Cody Chesnutt and Frank Ocean. Both of these musicians stradle the line between hip hop and R&B and I will share songs that have both elelments in the same song. The mix of these styles in one song can sometimes be very powerful. We'll also hear a John Legend song that shows some influence from Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Buckley. A strange combination you say? We'll, have a listen and see (hear) what you think.