Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn have each – in their own separate ways during their separate careers – been reinventing the sound of the banjo. Bela has drawn on jazz, classical, rock, folk, and world music; Abigail is fluent in Mandarin and has used her voice and banjo to draw connections between Chinese and Appalachian music. Together, though, this husband and wife team has released a couple of albums that really go for the old fashioned front porch sound. Their latest record is Echo In The Valley, and they'll play some of it in-studio.

Set List:

Watch the whole session here:

New York-based band Zuli deals in fizzy-lifting crooner-pop that swerves madly between surf-, psych-, and indie-rock. On the latest record, On Human Freakout Mountain, Ryan Camenzuli -- the brain behind Zuli -layers intricate guitar and piano riffs to drive these sugar-spun songs, many of which contain bits of found sound. Most impressive, though, are the enveloping bubble bath of backup vocals – full and inviting harmonies expertly arranged and blended on each song - which definitely evoke a summer-on-the-beach feeling. Zuli joins us to play some of these sunny songs live, in-studio. 

Hear psychedelic future-pop from Cindy Wilson, co-founder of the party band, The B52's. Wilson returned to her roots to fashion a new Athens, GA-based band, and explore a different side of her vocal talents. She and her band have just released Change, and that it is. The music incorporates the sounds of synths & strings, and touches upon disco, while also looking in an electronic direction. They’ll play some of the songs, in-studio.  

Watch the in-studio session: 

Tei Shi, the New York-based Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer was born Valerie Teicher in Buenos Aires and grew up between (Bogota,) Colombia and (Vancouver,) Canada. With synths and airy vocals, she crafts melodic, yet danceable layers of what she calls “mermaid music”; she will not have her music boxed in, thank you very much. Her latest record, Crawl Space,is an entrancing blend of shimmering electronic and organic sounds, human and synth-powered. The artist Tei Shi joins us to perform some of these songs. 

Watch her in-studio session: 

The Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist/and actor Tamara Lindeman has been making records under the name The Weather Station for just over a decade. Her latest album, also called The Weather Station, is essentially a collection of very short stories; although they’re often presented in big, expansive musical settings. “I wanted to make a rock and roll record,” Lindeman explains, “but one that sounded how I wanted it to sound, which of course is nothing like rock and roll.” The Weather Station is here to play some of these tumbling, detail-rich, folk-leaning, and candid songs, in-studio. 

Watch the session via Facebook: 

Watch Xylouris White's session via Facebook Live:

Lute-based and percussion driven, the rugged duo of Cretan lauto player George Xylouris (scion of one of Greece’s most revered musical families) and Australian drummer Jim White (he’s played with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, PJ Harvey, Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, and Dirty Three) perform groove-based, improvisatory music that is both grounded in Cretan tradition- the island has a great history of singers, lyra players, and other folk musicians – and fused with the rugged vitality of raw rockenroll. The duo gives us a preview of their latest record, Mother, due out early next year, in-studio. 

See Luna's session live via Facebook:

Hear guitar-drenched dream pop by Luna, the New-York-City-based band, now scattered around the country. Yes, that Luna. The one that was “formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski of The Feelies and Justin Harwood of The Chills. Guitarist Sean Eden joined in 1994, Lee Wall replaced Demeski on drums in 1997, and Britta Phillips replaced Harwood on bass in 2000.” (Lineup chronology from their Bandcamp page.) Their last record came out 13 years ago and they played what they thought was their final show at Bowery Ballroom, but now they’ve returned with a double feature –both a record of covers (The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, & others), and an EP of new instrumentals. Luna plays some of these songs without words, and perhaps some with words, in the studio. 

Watch Colleen's session via Facebook Live: 

Colleen is the alias of French multi-instrumentalist Cécile Schott, who has been living and working in Spain for the past few years. Her musical ax of choice was a Baroque instrument - the viola da gamba (as well as modified music boxes, melodica, classical guitar, clarinet, toy gamelan frame drum, piano, and wind chimes) electronically looped and layered; on later records, she added her voice. But on her latest release, she’s completely put away the viola da gamba in favor of electronic devices like the Pocket Piano and the Moogerfooger. In fact, this 2017 album, A flame my love, a frequency, is her first fully electronics-based record - 100% electronics and voice. Colleen and her synth armada are here in the studio to play these unconventional avant-pop creations in their live versions today. 

Watch Balmorhea's live session:

The Austin-based minimalist instrumental ensemble Balmorhea uses acoustic instruments to create atmospheric soundscapes. Comparisons to Explosions in the Sky or Godspeed You! Black Emperor might not be too far off, but where those bands tend to build, swell and fade, Balmorhea maintains a “relaxed, clear-eyed sense of reflection” throughout their most recent, Clear Language, their first new record in six years.

With strings, keyboards, guitars, vibraphone, & the occasional muted trumpet, the multi-instrumentalist core of Balmorhea has crafted a record of expansive layered spacious music, painting in broad brush strokes a feeling of wide-open Americana. Balmorhea joins us in their six-piece formation to play songs from Clear Language.

RIYL: Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, This Will Destroy Us, Friday Night Lights.

Watch the full Facebook Live Session:

Portland, OR collective Eyelids play "lopsided" rock with a great jangly-buzzy guitar sound – kind of a classic indie rock sound – and why not: the band’s members have also played in heavyweight bands like The Decemberists and Guided By Voices. Eyelids have recently released their second record, OR, produced by REM’s Peter Buck, and they’ll play some of this sweet, melody-laden power pop in our studio. 

RIYL: The Decemberists, Guided by Voices, Elliott Smith, Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr., Big Star, early R.E.M