Accessibility links
Field Recordings NPR Music takes musicians out of the concert hall and off the beaten path for a series of surprising performances.

Field recordings

Out of the concert hall and off the beaten path
The sweet harmonies of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig fill a man-made cavern in the historic Smuggler Mine.

The sweet harmonies of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig fill a man-made cavern in the historic Smuggler Mine. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

Lucius x Aspen Ideas Festival

The sweet harmonies of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig fill a man-made cavern in the historic Smuggler Mine.

So much more than a singer and songwriter, Connie Lim is a talented storyteller and activist who uses her music to inspire advocacy.

So much more than a singer and songwriter, Connie Lim is a talented storyteller and activist who uses her music to inspire advocacy. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

MILCK x Aspen Ideas Festival

So much more than a singer and songwriter, Connie Lim is a talented storyteller and activist who uses her music to inspire advocacy.

John Oates performs at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

John Oates performs at the Aspen Ideas Festival. hide caption

toggle caption

John Oates x Aspen Ideas Festival

John Oates and John Michel, two Aspen locals, came down the mountain to share a set of easygoing songs among the sage brush.

Common performs with a string ensemble.

This video is currently unavailable. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

Common x Aspen Ideas Festival

Watch as Common and Aspen Music School students take Toto's "Africa" and make something spontaneous, yet memorable.

Hurray for the Riff Raff performs in a meadow.

Hurray for the Riff Raff performs in a meadow. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

Hurray for the Riff Raff x Aspen Ideas Festival

Watch Alynda Segarra tell personal stories through songs as wide-screen as the Elk Mountains in the background.

Chris Thile performs in a field.

Chris Thile performs in a field. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

Chris Thile x Aspen Ideas Festival

Watch the mandolinist play solo and in collaboration with violinist Sofia Hashemi-Asasi and students from the Aspen Music school.

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra perform among the Aspen trees.

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra perform among the Aspen trees. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

Jonathan Scales x Aspen Ideas Festival

Watch the steelpan-led funk group perform amidst the trees at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Son Little performs on the Aspen Ideas Festival campus in Colorado.

Son Little performs on the Aspen Ideas Festival campus in Colorado. NPR hide caption

toggle caption NPR

Son Little x Aspen Ideas Festival

Watch the guitarist and songwriter perform outside on the idyllic Aspen Ideas Festival campus.

'When You Gonna Get A Real Job?': Philip Glass And Devonté Hynes Compare Notes

Devonté Hynes and Philip Glass met in Hynes' Chinatown loft for a conversation on a rainy spring day. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

'When You Gonna Get A Real Job?': Philip Glass And Devonté Hynes Compare Notes

Watch the two musicians, nearly 50 years apart in age, talk about the pains of striking out on your own, the pulse of New York, and the role of the artist today. Plus about a hundred other ideas.

Slowdive Fills A Shuffleboard Parlor With Shimmering Sound

Slowdive plays a Field Recording at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn, N.Y. Becky Lettenberger/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Becky Lettenberger/NPR

Slowdive Fills A Shuffleboard Parlor With Shimmering Sound

Fresh off its first album in 22 years, the U.K. shoegaze band performs the dream-pop ballad "Sugar For The Pill" at a Brooklyn shuffleboard parlor.

Watch Angel Olsen Perform In A Bronx Church

Angel Olsen performs "Give It Up" in the Fordham University Church. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

Watch Angel Olsen Perform In A Bronx Church

WFUV

Accompanying herself on electric guitar, the singer performs her resolutely earthly song "Give It Up" at the Fordham University Church.

Watch Steve Gunn Play On An Abandoned Railroad Track

Steve Gunn plays a Field Recording in Queens, N.Y. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

Watch Steve Gunn Play On An Abandoned Railroad Track

The wandering Americana guitarist brings new songs to a forgotten New York relic.