The singer-songwriter's music has long been characterized as melancholy. For her album, 'Mental Illness,' Aimee Mann leaned into that stereotype, writing songs that empathize with other people's struggles.

This week, Mary Lucia gets in touch with Eric Isaacson, a record store and record label owner from Portland, Ore. Eric talks about what it was like to build a business from the ground up with no real plan -- and how and why Peter Buck released a solo record on Eric's label.

When The Orwells visited The Current for an in-studio session, guitar player Dominic Corso took some time to tell us about the guitar he uses: a Sarricola custom guitar, built by Bill Sarricola, a high-school friend of the father of Orwells' frontman, Mario Cuomo.

Patti Smith joined host Mark Wheat for an in-depth interview ahead of her gig at Northrop where she and her band will perform the iconic album 'Horses' in its entirety.

Following a recent in-studio session at The Current, Black Joe Lewis gave us an update on the guitars he's been using recently. The parts may come from different places, but Lewis is an avid fan of the Telecaster model.

Amber Bain fronts the band The Japanese House. After a recent visit to The Current's studio, Bain took some time to tell us about her 1976 Fender Mustang, and how and why she taught herself to play guitar upside down.

The video, for a demo of 'My Brave Face,' includes rare footage of McCartney and Costello in studio for the late-'80s recording sessions.

In town to play a show at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, Jody Stephens and Luther Russell, aka Those Pretty Wrongs, stopped by The Current to chat with Bill DeVille and to play a song from their self-titled album. Stephens, formerly of Big Star, and Russell, formerly of the Freewheelers, talk about their longtime friendship and how playing at Nashville venue The Basement has opened many doors for them.

In a Song Exploder segment from sister station KPCC's The Frame, R&B singer-songwriter Solange Knowles breaks down her Grammy-nominated song 'Cranes In the Sky,' one of the many highlights from her highly regarded 2016 album, 'A Seat at the Table.'

If Sturgill Simpson wins Album Of The Year at the Grammys this weekend, it'll be surprising -- but not shocking.