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The leader of the Senegalese trio Daara J says hip-hop was a familiar sound in the group's native country long before it became popular in America.

In the early 1990s, a new kind of feminist icon emerged. Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill, wrote lyrics about domestic violence and rape... and became a symbol of the riot grrrl movement.

Trombone Shorty's new album "Lifted" comes on the heels of the artist's first Grammy.

Tom Verlaine shook up the music world with his punk-rock group Television in the mid-1970s. Can he do it again? He's giving it a shot with two new CDs — one an instrumental work featuring his influential guitar style — and a world tour.

Aqualung created a stir in Britain with a pop song that first drew attention as the background for a car advertisement. Now Matt Hales' piano-driven pop act is quietly mounting a U.S. invasion with a new CD, Strange and Beautiful.

The documentary Festival Express captures a 1970 train tour across Canada with Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and other music icons. Director Bob Smeaton talks to NPR's Liane Hansen.

We present the first of our Lost & Found Sound Memphis trilogy with this portrait of the early years of Sam Phillips and his legendary Memphis Recording Service. This was before he recorded Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Interviews with Sam, his family, Ike Turner and others are interwoven with the remote recordings he made of talent shows, funerals and proms to support his passion for recording the raw unrecorded music of the 1950s South.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Perry about Perry's experience in Iraq. Perry recently returned from the embattled city of Fallujah, where he was embedded with U.S. Marines battling insurgents for control of the city. See photos of his experience there.

Singer Madeleine Peyroux moved to France at age 15, honing her vocal talents on the streets of Paris before making her recording debut at age 22. Eight years later she's back with a new CD, Careless Love. She speaks with NPR's Sheilah Kast.

Guitarist Ottmar Liebert made his name with music he dubbed Nouveau Flamenco — over the objections of the recording industry. The guitarist, born in Germany, says the music has more to offer than corporate labels can cover. We visit with Liebert for a performance and chat.