"Her new album is a true love letter to her North Carolina roots," Jenn White, host of NPR's 1A, says of her guest Rhiannon Giddens and her new album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, with Justin Robinson, who also joins the conversation and performs with Giddens on the show. Giddens was also on BBC Radio 4's Front Row to discuss the album. You can hear both here.

Guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson has released "Amaranthine," a new track from About Ghosts, her upcoming album with her sextet Amaryllis—Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet)—due June 13. You can hear it here. "Of all the music on this album, 'Amaranthine' is the first piece I wrote," Halvorson says. "In a sense, it feels to me like the most representative of the band’s sound." About Ghosts was produced and mixed by Deerhoof's John Dieterich. Halvorson and Amaryllis will tour the US in September.