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Los Angeles-based singer Maia Sharp may be on her fourth album, Echo, but she's mostly made her living writing songs for other performers, including Cher, Dixie Chicks and Bonnie Raitt. After a few brushes with success, this time around, Sharp feels like she's ready to break through.

Brooks officially retired in 2001 to raise his three daughters. That retirement ends Friday night in Las Vegas, courtesy of a new business deal with Steve Wynn's Encore Hotel. Brooks' extended run is the first of any kind for a country musician in Las Vegas.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood explores the resurgence of blues in America, thanks to an ongoing interest in British blues-rock bands like The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac — which is touring again after a five-year hiatus. Fleetwood says he hopes to bring the group back to its blues roots.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) made a musical splash Memorial Day weekend in a performance with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra; it was later posted in a video clip on YouTube. Alexander performed a few tunes at the piano in NPR's Studio 4A.

Last spring on its MySpace page, the Brooklyn experimental rock band Parts & Labor asked fans to send sound samples to put on the group's new album. Parts & Labor used every single one, often blurring the line between instruments and samples.

With an exotic fiddle, a viola, a classical guitar and a drum kit, the quartet called QQQ creates something like Appalachian folk music — albeit filtered through Brooklyn experimentalism and rural Norwegian flavor. The band plays a special session in Studio 4A.

Faithfull's latest album, Easy Come, Easy Go, covers more ground than ever before. The veteran singer interprets songs by Randy Newman, The Decemberists, Dolly Parton and many others. To her, recording a cover is more about expressing the song than trying to emulate the original.

Do Swedish people feed their children's friends when they come over to play and stay until mealtime? We seek guidance on a social media rumor.

The band formed in 1997 and quickly gained attention in its adopted hometown of Austin, Texas. On a new album, its members honor their idol Bob Wills, "The King of Western Swing."

Elvis Presley is constantly being discovered by new generations, and by older fans in new stages of life. Critic Milo Miles talks about the surprise rewards he found while listening to the new reissue Elvis Is Back! — and during his first visit to Graceland in Memphis.