Folk & Bluegrass

John McCutcheon performs two songs on his hammer dulcimer.

Guitarist Ry Cooder. His career consisted of one-night stands until he began writing the scores for films. His credits include "Paris, Texas" and "Crossroads." He's just come out with a solo album, his fist in six years. (INTERVIEW BY LIANE HANSEN)

Accordionist William Schimmel will perform several tangos.

Guitarist Bob Brozman will perform two songs on his National Steel guitar.

Singer Judy Collins. She's just written an autobiography; it's titled Trust Your Heart.

Guitarist Bob Brozman. He'll play two songs from the 20s, one a Fats Waller tune, on his National Steel Guitar.

Folk singer Bill Staines will perform two songs that reflect on the change in seasons.

Folksinger Hazel Dickens. She sings and appears in the John Sayles film "Matewan." Dickens is best known for her traditional renditions of country and folk tunes and for her songs of protest.

Folk singer Garnet Rogers will play a song which sets to music a poem by Australian Henry Lawson.

Blues and country musician Roy Bookbinder joins Fresh Air to talk about his career on the road and the issues involved with being a white singer performing traditionally black music. He plays several songs in-studio.

Folk musician Michael Cooney returns to Fresh Air to share two older love songs that he thinks do a better job of conveying emotion than the pop hits of today.

Puerto Rican songwriter and performer Roy Brown discusses the Nueva Cancion movement, which sets politically-charged poetry to music. He performs several songs in studio.

As a teenager at the beginning of her folk career, Joan Baez played mostly sad, traditional songs. She later became an icon to teenage girls in the 1960s, played with Bob Dylan, and pursued political activism.

Accordion player William Schimmel examines the stylistic nuances that distinguish the genre.

Folk singer Michael Cooney returns to Fresh Air to perform two songs originally written in the 1920s

Folk festival mainstay Michael Cooney performs several songs he learned while on the road.

Fiddler and folklorist Michael Doucet plays with the band Beausoleil. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the history of and techniques involved in the Louisiana-based genre.

Accordionist William Schimmel explains how his instrument lends itself to stylistic mash-ups and improvisatory approaches to composition.

Writer Maya Angelou's newest installment in her series of autobiographical books, called All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, has just been published. She returns to Fresh Air to talk about the influence her childhood had on her life and career.

Musician John Phillips was a member of the group The Mamas & The Papas, a pop-folk band that was popular in the 1960s. Phillips has recently written his autobiography "Papa John."