It's a challenging time to be alive and whether you're working, home alone in quarantine or keeping a family happy inside the house, we want to create reasons for you to smile this week. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, help us come up with a giant happiness playlist. What songs do you want to hear that make you happy?

On March 16, the Walz-Flanagan administration extended unemployment benefits to those who have lost their jobs or had their hours significantly cut due to COVID-19. The executive order waives the traditional waiting week to ensure applicants have access to benefits as quickly as possible. Yet there is currently no aid under state unemployment benefits for…

'Color Theory' is a wide, uncanny valley of sound: an array of riffs, beats, melodies, and vibes that are deeply reminiscent of something you feel like you've heard before, but can't quite place.

So many musicians have moved their performances online in the name of social distancing and tours being canceled or postponed, and The Current has been assembling a day-by-day virtual gig list of these online shows. It's gotten us in the mood for a more stripped-down, in-person feeling for music right now. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that were recorded in The Current studios?

As the Covid-19 virus continues to spread worldwide, forcing countless musicians and support staff out of work, members of the music community are stepping up to help those in need. Jill Riley got on the phone with Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard to discuss the Facebook Live events he’s been hosting daily to…

Though it doesn't feel like it in Minnesota today, it's officially the first day of Spring. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear for Spring?

Lori Barbero is a Minnesota music legend, drummer for Babes in Toyland and an artist who could fill an encyclopedia with her local knowledge. Like many musicians, she also works in the service industry; in her case, as a bartender. That means she’s doubly affected by restaurants, bars, and music venues closing to slow the…

Mary Lucia notes how we're all stuck at home. That's a reason to watch a great documentary, and this recommendation is from 'PBS American Masters' and it's called 'Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool.' Whether or not you know a lot about jazz, perhaps you'll be struck, like Mary Lucia was, by some of the similarities between Miles Davis and another massively influential artist.

Since we can't go downtown these days, let's take a musical trip downtown this morning. What songs do you want to hear for today's 9:30 Coffee Break that mention downtown?

Even Dave Pirner doesn't know what some of his lyrics mean, or even - in one case - exactly what they are. Still, 'Loud Fast Words' collects the Soul Asylum songbook for posterity. Pirner seems happy to let posterity make what it will of his 'Loud Fast Words.'