World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN

Johnathan Rice rolled in the door and right away I knew I was going to enjoy chatting with him. He arrived as a party of one, with merch in a carry-on bag in one hand, and a guitar case in the other. Normally, there's a manager, a sound person, or label folk shepherding. But this time, it was just Rice and a rental car touring the Northeast. The Scottish-American Rice has been performing for over 15 years, and for many of those years, he was in a relationship with Jenny Lewis, even co-releasing an album as 'Jenny and Johnny'. They're no longer a couple, and his latest album, 'The Long Game', is a partial reflection on that relationship, but it's not quite a breakup record. Rice will talk about that reflection, advice from Bill Murray and tricking your audience into listening to poetry.

It's been about a year since World Cafe caught up with Willie Nelson, and he's been busy! Willie just released his latest album called 'Ride Me Back Home', made with his producer-collaborator Buddy Cannon. In February, Willie won a Grammy Award for his Frank Sinatra tribute album 'My Way'. And he's recently expanded his health-and-wellness brand Willie's Remedy to include new CBD-infused coffee. In this session, Willie tells stories about some new songs and some classics, including "Crazy." He reminisces about hanging in Amsterdam with Snoop Dogg, visiting The White House with President Carter and meeting his wife, Annie, on the set of a movie he was shooting with his fellow Highwaymen. We also got to meet some of Willie's crew backstage before the show, including "Tunin'" Tom Hawkins who takes care of Willie's famous guitar, Trigger, on the road.

Page Burkum and Jack Torrey a.k.a. The Cactus Blossoms are brothers, but their vocal talents aren't just simply a case of sibling harmonies. They didn't start singing together until their 30s. So much for a lifetime of practice with one another! Burkum and Torrey can sing, but they can play and write beautiful songs, too. They have caught the attention of David Lynch, who invited the gents to play the fictional bar, The Roadhouse, in the last season of Twin Peaks. Then there's Dan Auerbach, who reached out to the band and ended up co-writing some songs that appear on 'Easy Way', the duo's latest album.

Boston-based singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler has been making old school country with a twist since 2004, but that twist has turned in many directions since then. It's led to her lending those trademark "haunting vocals" to metal bands, recording several albums of covers and opening up for Swedish hard rock band Ghost. In this session, Nadler talks about why she's a fan of harmonizing with women (her latest record 'For My Crimes' features vocals from Angel Olsen, Kristin Kontrol and Sharon Van Etten, among others), becoming more involved with producing and what it was like to play to a bunch of metal fans.

The first thing people usually say about Greensky Bluegrass is that the band's live shows are just wild. The members mix the energy of stadium rock with the spirit of jam bands, and they play bluegrass instruments, like banjo, mandolin and dobro through a surprisingly psychedelic set of effects pedals. The band recently dropped by to bring the feel of a midsummer music festival to World Cafe, performing songs from their latest album, 'All for Money'.