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Brooklyn-based folk-rock band The Lone Bellow have stuck through thick and thin for the past 15 years. Their creative output has been fairly consistent, only disrupted recently by a burglary on the road. Strangely, the thieves who broke into their tour van stole the hard drives containing the vocal takes for their latest record and left the precious instruments behind. Still, the financial burden was significant enough to delay the release of What a Time to Be Alive. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, the trio had their second shot at realizing their vision.  Now back on the road after a short break to promote their new album across the US, The Lone Bellow is once again ready to welcome “the alchemy of everybody together in the room” on stage. But first, they share their rich vocal harmonies, backed with acoustic guitars and a mandolin, at our Manhattan studios for the latest installment of Soundcheck. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. I Did It for Love 2. You Were Leaving 3. No Getting Over You 

Texas-born folk singer-songwriter Jana Horn lives in Brooklyn, NY now. Perhaps it was this lifestyle change that established the introspective and fragmented nature of her eponymous third album. The calm in her voice, guided by instruments that sound as though they follow their own communal continuous clock, softens the blow of her existential lyrics: “Seeing eternity as a quality of time / Done with my dying / I can breathe again”. Drifting between melancholy and optimism, Horn writes and performs conversationally, blurring the line between speech and song. The core team of musicians she opens her heart to play a big part in weaving the delicate and gentle atmosphere around her vocals, both in the studio and on the road. Two of those musicians, bassist Jade Guterman and drummer Adam Jones join us for the latest edition of Soundcheck with Jana Horn. Hear their performance and the artist’s interview with our host, John Schaefer. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. Come on 2. It's alright 3. Designer  

The band Art Brut has been making excitable, eccentric indie rock since their debut LP Bang Bang Rock N Roll was released in the UK back in 2005. The music is catchy, hook-laden, guitar-based indie rock.  The lyrics are delivered in a kind of speech-song by Eddie Argos; they could be about falling in love or hitting the dance floor, but they’re just as likely to tell us a story of a double-crossing superhero or the joys of riding public transportation. Art Brut delivers a gleefully feral set of songs from their vast catalogue (including the recent second volume of a boxed set, Sorry, That It Doesn’t Seem Like It’s Planned! Battling Satan 2009-2020) to play in-studio.  Set list: 1. Formed a Band 2. Emily Kane 3. She Kissed Me and It Felt Like A Hit

Mike Doughty is many things; a solo artist, founding bandmember of Soul Coughing and Ghost of Vroom, and a published writer – who not only wrote two memoirs but also an oratorio based on the biblical Book of Revelation that was staged at WNYC’s Greene Space.  Simply put, Doughty has built a long-lasting career since his days of working as a doorman at the New York club, The Knitting Factory. On his way up, he embraced all aspects of the art of writing good songs, from welcoming “cowboy chords” when they come, to opening his mind up to the universe of avant-garde jazz – or even German grammar-inspired lyrics. Today, he is a storyteller who is honest with himself and transparent with his audience, composing and sharing new songs weekly with his patrons on Patreon while continuing to pour his heart out on the road, as he’s about to do so on his Solo Tour ’26, playing all over the United States. In the early days of this new adventure, Doughty joins our host, John Schaefer, with his collaborator, Andrew “Scrap” Livingston, for an intimate live performance and a warm chat for this edition of Soundcheck. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. White Lexus 2. Mr. Bitterness 3. Light Will Keep Your Heart Beating in the Future

The Syrian-American rapper, poet, and peace activist Omar Offendum blends the sounds of hip hop and classical Arab music and literature into his stage works.  He has spent much of the past few years on a New York-themed work called The Little Syria Show, named after a historical neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. In a celebration of Arab-American cultural heritage, Omar Offendum shares insights on diasporic memory and performs some of the songs from The Little Syria Show, in-studio. – "Sinsyrianly" Set list: 1. Peddling Dervish 2. Mojaddareh 3. Not Quite White

American folk singer-songwriter Annahstasia’s music career blossomed since the day she got kicked out of her teenage choir. Her voice didn’t blend homogenously with others, as it always meant to stand out. Today, with her soulful contralto register, she often gets compared to the greats like Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman, and Sade. But the way she utilizes her voice and songwriting melds a distinct brand of her own.  As a storyteller, Annahstasia doesn’t worry too much about predictable song structures with repeatable sections. Instead, she invites her collaborators and listeners into her safe space to participate as a communal sonic atmosphere begins to take shape. Like an “energy doula”, she approaches the dynamics in her music with the utmost care, birthing not only words and musical notes but also volumes of emotion. Sometimes, her melodies and harmonies are tethered so tightly to silence that you might miss them if you’re not listening closely. Then, they burst out again, like a thunderstorm that came out of nowhere to grasp your attention and never let go. Offering an inimitable aural experience, Annahstasia performs a solo set at our Manhattan studios for this edition of Soundcheck, ahead of her sold-out four-night residency at Public Records in Brooklyn. Hear her latest anecdotes about her journey in the music industry and how she defends the art of live music recording in the age of bedroom pop productions. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. Be Kind 2. Take Care of Me 3. Slow

Rapper, singer, and songwriter Dessa is a longtime member of Minneapolis’s influential Doomtree collective, has toured and recorded with orchestras, and been artist-in-residence at The Greene Space, our ground floor performance venue here in New York. But Dessa is also a writer, a poet, and a keen observer of the times. Her explicit commentary on the state of American politics, along with digressions on art, science, business, love, failure, and creativity fuel her latest songs, which she performs in-studio. Set list: 1. Camelot 2. Tough Call 3. What if I'm Not Ready

The duo called Dalava has put out three albums based on old Czech, specifically Moravian, folk songs, sourced from melodies transcribed over 100 years ago by the great- grandfather of Dálava's singer, Julia Úlehla. Their latest record, Understories, uses symbolic birds and stories to set a series of progressively darker, more experimental arrangements that seem to cast those songs adrift in both time and place. Julia Úlehla and guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn) explore magic and realism, harnessing the intense emotion in the body memory of ancestral connections as they perform in-studio. -Caryn Havlik Set list: 1. Escape Velocity 2. Entanglement 3. Side Real Time

Argentine singer-songwriter Marilina Bertoldi’s brand of rock 'n' roll contains multitudes between the old and the new. Her electric guitar, though it may only be a decade old, has all the markings of a seasoned instrument that has taken the stage at sweaty clubs and music festivals across the Americas and Europe. And the sound of it adds an unmistakably retro touch to Bertoldi’s music, which is often accompanied with glitchy and sampled production elements (and a state-of-the-art pedalboard to control it all). All the sonics aside though, it is Bertoldi’s intensely honest storytelling, which takes on a deeper meaning on stage, that makes her artistry stand out. Listen to her fiery performance from our Manhattan studios with Manu Fernandez on drums, as well as her words on life on the road and the creative process behind the latest album PARA QUIEN TRABAJAS Vol. I, which recently earned Bertoldi a Latin Grammy nomination. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. Pucho 2. O No? 3. La Casa de A

Canadian indie rock collective The New Pornographers has a history that spans almost three decades. Leaving nine albums behind, the band enters a new era with The Former Site Of, which, as always, centers on frontman A.C. Newman’s introspective songwriting, studying self-destructive tendencies and character building with power pop soundscapes in the backdrop. While writing the new batch of songs, some of which originated prior to the creation of the previous record Continue as a Guest, Newman looked for ways to not “ruin them with lyrics”; sporadically revisiting demos, muting and unmuting the vocals, looking to achieve symbiosis between the story and its music.  As A.C. Newman puts it, “Being a musician… It’s easy to lose sight of why you do it” and get sidetracked by the business side of the job. Remembering the purest reasons why lies in the writing process that leads to words like: “The thing about fortune / It does no favors / And it's form fitting / You barely know that it's there” (Pure Sticker Shock). Newman pays a visit to our studios with bandmember Kathryn Calder, accompanied by session musicians Lilah Larson and Adam Minkoff for a special live performance and an eye-opening interview. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. Votive 2. Pure Sticker Shock 3. Spooky Action 4. The Former Site Of 

Experimental music composers Elori Saxl and Henry Solomon found common ground in electroacoustic duets in their collaborative album, Seeing Is Forgetting.  Solomon is a Los Angeles-based saxophonist who can improvise in any musical setting, whether he’s recording with Paramore, Miley Cyrus, and HAIM, or assembling a score for a film. Saxl’s intricate music writing also knows no bounds, dancing between classical and electronic music in her commissions from PBS, Guggenheim, and This American Life. Together, the duo recorded three hours of music in LA, embarking on a sonic adventure free of hesitation and doubt. Blurring the rigidity of the steps between musical notes, they filled the gradients with glides and noise, often losing track of who’s playing which parts, as their sessions went on. The tricky part of their creative process was narrowing their “near-telepathic” musical conversations down to an album form. But they finally did, achieving fluid cohesion between Saxl’s JUNO-106 harmonies and Solomon’s baritone sax and bass clarinet melodies. Now, their conversations continue on stage and throughout the live performances captured at our Manhattan studios, built upon the base of Seeing Is Forgetting, but continuously encountering new ideas and happy accidents. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. Reno Silver 2. Thousand Steps 3. Heart

Martin Hayes is one of the great Irish fiddlers of our time, and one of the things that makes his playing so distinctive is the way he incorporates elements of jazz and contemporary classical music. Hayes is a founding member of the Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming, and he’s led a couple of ensembles, the Martin Hayes Quartet and the Common Ground Ensemble, that include musicians from the New York new music scene. Guitarist Kyle Sanna, for example, is part of the Common Ground Ensemble, who are part of a St Patrick's Day 2026 concert at Carnegie Hall and he joins Martin Hayes to play a few tunes, in-studio.  Set list: 1. The Wild Geese/Lord Leitrim 2. Port An Deoari/My Mary Ann 3. The Golden Castle/Mikey Callaghans

As both a musician and an activist, Steve Earle has been a voice for people living on the margins. His songs blend folk, country, and rock, and among his many awards are a bunch of Grammys and his recent induction into the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. And yet, many people will be more familiar with Steve Earle’s work as an actor, on screen, on stage, and on TV series like The Wire and Treme. Add in a tumultuous personal life, and you have a guy with stories to tell. Steve Earle’s current tour is called Fifty-One Years of Songs and Stories, and he plays a solo set, including a tune from the show, 'Tender Mercies', in-studio. Set list: 1. Copperhead Road 2. I Don't Trust Happiness 3. City of Immigrants

The young Mexican singer-songwriter Humbe is no stranger to posting short clips of his songs on TikTok. He feeds on the transparency between his artistic universe and the fans that flock to it like a moth to a flame. His authentic brand of soul, contemporary R&B, and Latin dance music triggers the algorithm time and time again, connecting with audiences across the globe. The latest album, Dueño del Cielo, marks another milestone in his artistic exploration, “looking into the sky when there’s nothing left on the ground”. Filled with religious imagery, voice memos of lived experiences, and dreamy depictions of the chemistry behind human emotions, the album combines Humbe’s candid lyricism with impressively passionate vocal performances.  Humbe’s 2026 tour is ongoing with dates in North America, South America, and Europe. He takes a break from the road to play a stripped-down set with his band at our Manhattan studio. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1. Harry Stamper 2. Fantasmas 3. Morfina

Spanish indie folk artist Guitarricadelafuente has come a long way since his days of posting covers on social media. Back then, he wasn’t only inspired by his own culture, but American folk music as well, reinterpreting songs of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Eventually finding his own vein within the art of storytelling, Guitarrica began drawing inspiration from folklore, viewing it as not a snapshot from the past, but “something that already lives within us”. In his two albums, La Cantera and Spanish Leather, this is the concept he embraces, embodying the curiosity and joy of a kid that lives in a village, discovering the city for the first time.  There is a delicate melancholy in the music of Guitarricadelafuente, but a celebration of love and laughter, too. His lens is an unfiltered one, embracing the reality of unadulterated human emotions and making peace with the poses he strikes daily. Fresh off the NPR Tiny Desk stage, he takes a short break from his first world tour to play a stripped-down set at the Soundcheck studios. (- Sırma Munyar) Setlist: 1.Poses 2. Mataleón 3. Quién teme a la máquina?