What do you call a string ensemble when it adds a wind instrument? "Good question," say the members of the Spaghetti Western String Co. They've added a clarinetist in the past year which moved them in new musical directions while maintaining their indefinable sound.

The third installment in our series of conversations with songwriter Ann Reed as she continues her statewide tour and writes a new Minnesota song with help from listeners and audience members.

Ellis is talented singer-songwriter based out of the Twin Cities with a loyal, involved fan base. So involved, in fact, that they had a large part in producing a recent live album by helping her decide the album's musical direction and which songs to include.

Named after the seventeenth-century French king, San Diego's glam-punk rockers Louis XIV are back with their sophomore album "Slick Dogs and Ponies." They've decided that you will either love it or hate it.

From a 1,000 copies limited-release single at the start of 2005 to having their beer "borrowed" by Paul McCartney and a platinum album, Editors have done it their way and triumphed.

Toumani Diabate comes from a long family tradition of kora players including his father, Sidiki Diabate, who recorded the first ever kora album in 1970. In September 2005, Toumani Diabate released In the Heart of the Moon, a collaboration with the late Ali Farka Toure, his mentor.

Brothers Mike and Tom Mangione have influenced each other musically from their earliest days. Mike's first chord was the upside down E he learned from Tom. Together they've made a career of playing the instrument incorrectly.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are on a mission to connect old style music and traditional instruments with young people and new sounds.

The second installment of our on-going conversation with singer songwriter Ann Reed as she continues her statewide tour and writes a new Minnesota song, with help from listeners.

Bon Iver's debut release "For Emma, Forever Ago," a nine-song album, came together at a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin. All of his personal troubles,including heartache, longing, love, loss, and guilt was purged into the form of song.