The great David Dye has been known for years as the maestro of the World Cafe. Who knew that he had this other, secret, side?

Wilco‘s amazing new album, The Whole Love, streets on September 27th. Meanwhile, they’ve just released a video for “Born Alone” created by Mark Greenburg.

Thanks to the New Yorker for this fine piece on Ry Cooder. His new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, adds to his long tradition of singing about working people using incredibly inventive chops.

We love Amanda Shires: her honesty, her vulnerability and her lovely cinematic songwriting. She’s accompanied at this Tiny Desk Concert by Rod Picott.

We don’t usually regurgitate press releases but this one is for an unassailable cause and offers free music from some of our favorite artists. Winning!

SIXTEEN RENOWNED RECORDING ARTISTS RELEASE
“RAISE YOUR VOICE!”
A FREE ALBUM IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING

August 3, 2011 — 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting and ANTI- Records are pleased to announce the release of Raise Your Voice!, a 16-track compilation of music from ANTI- artists being offered as a free download to advocates for public broadcasting. Anyone who signs up to join the campaign can download the compilation — available for a limited time only — by visiting RYVoice.org.Supporters will also have the opportunity to share Raise Your Voice! with their friends and social networks.

Artists contributing tracks to Raise Your Voice! include:

Public broadcasting offers millions of hours of free music, arts and cultural programming to American audiences, thanks in part to federal funding. From national music programs such as public television’s Austin City Limits and public radio’s Mountain Stage to the diverse local programming on public radio music stations throughout the country, public broadcasting is a vital part of our nation’s musical landscape.

Public radio preserves American culture and is one of the only places left where uniquely American music — jazz, rock, bluegrass and classical — can be heard by a mass audience. Public radio stations around the country play an important role in the music economy and have created a valuable partnership that connects audiences to music, and all those who devote their lives to it—performers, singer-songwriters, musicians, lyricists and composers. More than 100 local public radio stations broadcast full-time music and hundreds more include music as part of their programming lineups.

While the average station gets the majority of its funding from listeners, underwriters and other local sources, federal funding helps close the gap and keep many small and rural stations on the air. Without federal funding these stations could go dark and the platform that they’ve provided for so many musicians could go with it.

“We are thrilled to offer Raise Your Voice! to our advocates,” said Jeff Nelson, co-director , 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting. “It is critical that we raise awareness about the importance of public broadcasting to music in America as we make our case to Congress to maintain federal funding for local stations across the country. We are grateful to ANTI- and these fantastic artists for their generosity and for standing up in support for public broadcasting.”

Ari Picker, frontman for ANTI- band Lost in the Trees added, “Our culture needs public broadcasting. And public radio has been an enormous resource for musicians like myself. I feel extremely privileged to donate our music to Raise Your Voice! to boost awareness about the need to protect public broadcasting in America.”

The website for Raise Your Voice! was created by Oniracom, a Santa Barbara-based audience marketing agency for music and entertainment.

About 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting
The 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting campaign is a collaboration of public radio and television stations, national organizations, producers, viewers and listeners throughout the country who understand the critical need for a strong public media in the United States.  The campaign is co-managed by the Association of Public Television Stations and American Public Media on behalf of more than 400 station partners. The centerpieces of the effort are its website, 170MillionAmericans.org, Facebook page, Facebook.com/170Million, and Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/#!/170million,that give supporters of public media a way to take action in support of their local public radio and television stations.

Ry Cooder is near the top of our all-time-faves list and we are so excited to share this new tune from his forthcoming Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down which hits the street on August 30.

Congratulations to all of the fantastic artists who were chosen as Grammy winners last night! Songlines is pleased to have played a small part in the success of the albums by these winners:

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs: Album of the Year
Cee Lo Green, “Fuck You”: Best Urban/Alternative Performance
Patty Griffin, Downtown Church: Best Traditional Gospel Album
Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone: Best Americana Album
Ray LaMontagne, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise: Best Contemporary Folk Album

And yes, we continue to delight in working in a radio format that allowed us to contribute to campaigns for both the year’s Best Traditional Gospel Album and an eminently catchy song called “Fuck You.”

Though we had little to nothing to do with the success of these winners, we were still thrilled for them because they’re great:
The Black Keys, “Tighten Up”: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
John Legend & the Roots, Wake Up!: Best R&B Album
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Grupo Fantasma, El Existential: Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album

We were also very happy for our good pal Lisa Sonkin, who got an acceptance-speech shout-out from Train!

Let’s all hope that this year’s Grammy performances, winners and nominees suggest a glimmer of hope for the future.

Here’s a year-end musical farewell to those lost in 2010 by one of our most literate musical bards, Robbie Fulks!

Mavis Staples and her band (with Jeff Tweedy in tow!) performed a graceful rendition of the title track from her new album, You Are Not Alone, last night on The Colbert Report.

Jeff Tweedy produced Mavis Staples‘ wonderful new record, You Are Not Alone (Anti-). The album features soulful reinterpretations of tracks by Allen Toussaint, Randy Newman, and others, as well as two new songs that Tweedy penned for Mavis. In this video, the two perform an acoustic version of the single, “Wrote a Song for Everyone“, which originally appeared on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Green River.