World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN

We got that advice from many folks on social media when we planned our recent World Cafe trip to Scotland. We met up with Martha Ffion for a chat and performance at "The Hug and Pint", a vegan restaurant and music venue that was instrumental early in her career. She treated us to songs from her debut full-length album, Sunday Best, as well as a new song called "Kennedy Hair". She also talked about drawing inspiration from jokes on American TV shows, and explained the term "curtain twitching".

At 77, David Crosby is in the midst of a late-life burst of creativity. He's released 4 albums in the last 5 years. His most recent record, Here If You Listen, was recorded with his acoustic group, The Lighthouse Band. You'll hear music from Here If You Listen as well as live recordings of Crosby performing classic Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young songs with The Lighthouse Band. Crosby also tells the story of watching Neil Young write the iconic song "Ohio," about being the subject of a new Cameron Crowe documentary and reflects on the relationships he has with his children.

Hear an acoustic performance of songs from Mumford and Sons' latest album Delta and Talia Schlanger's conversation with lead singer Marcus Mumford and keyboard player Ben Lovett. They discuss how the band keeps their shows intimate even when they play arenas, and Marcus shares the story of a life-changing trip to Mosul, Iraq where he sat with a fellow father and discussed the impact of the conflict on children's lives.

Grammy Award winner Mike Farris joins the Café to talk about his latest album, Silver and Stone, a love letter to his wife of many years. Farris also talks about writing a song about Mavis Staples, why he can't listen to U2 or Stevie Wonder when recording, and he performs live – including a dynamite Sam Cooke cover.

From Lulu to Annie Lennox. Gerry Rafferty to Frightened Rabbit. The Proclaimers to KT Tunstall. World Cafe visited the National Museum of Scotland in the fall for a wild ride through "Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop." We examine Scotland's role in the birth of indie music, the impact of some of its most famous exports, and we listened to a ton of fun music from Scotland's rich pop canon. Our tour guide is Vic Galloway, a beloved host and DJ for BBC Radio Scotland and veritable encyclopedia of musical knowledge who wrote the book that accompanies this exhibit. Come along as we rip through the museum!