NPR Music

It's a slow week on the Billboard charts, but Jack Black breaks a surprising record on the chart. Plus, rapper Doechii lands her first Top 10 album and Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' continues to move up the Hot 100.

To foster equity and community, people gather several times a year to sing together in Portland, Oregon. The woman behind this effort has twice been nominated for a Grammy in music education.

Grammy-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens brings Biscuits & Banjos, a music festival that features Black musicians on guitars, fiddles and banjos, history, dancing and more, to Durham, N.C.

Madison McFerrin, who creates instruments in real-time out of her looped vocals, previews songs from her upcoming album SCORPIO backed by a Chicago-based band and a sister vocal trio.

The seven acts voted into the Rock Hall this year include Southern rap and Midwest garage rock duos, pillars of the grunge and English blues rock eras and the '80s most unusual pop star.

The legendary west African kingdom of Kaabu has long been memorialized in the songs and stories of griots. That's inspired archaeologists to excavate the kingdom's capital.

For musicians like Rhiannon Giddens and Rissi Palmer, trying to break down doors in the folk and country music scenes has been a long road. A festival in Durham this weekend aims to remedy that.

Haggard, who died in 2016, spoke to Fresh Air in 1995 about his love of trains. When he became a star, he acquired his own observation car. Now that coach is part of the Virginia Scenic Railway.

On Robeson, opera singer Davóne Tines pays tribute to the musician often remembered for singing "Ol' Man River." Tines' album pairs well with the 14-CD album Paul Robeson: Voice of Freedom.

NPR Music's Stephen Thompson welcomes Ayana Contreras of Denver public radio stations KUVO Jazz and The Drop to discuss today's top new releases.