Ann Powers
Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. She writes for NPR's music news blog, The Record, and she can be heard on NPR's newsmagazines and music programs.
One of the nation's most notable music critics, Powers has been writing for The Record, NPR's blog about finding, making, buying, sharing and talking about music, since April 2011.
Powers served as chief pop music critic at the Los Angeles Times from 2006 until she joined NPR. Prior to the Los Angeles Times, she was senior critic at Blender and senior curator at Experience Music Project. From 1997 to 2001 Powers was a pop critic at The New York Times and before that worked as a senior editor at the Village Voice. Powers began her career working as an editor and columnist at San Francisco Weekly.
Her writing extends beyond blogs, magazines and newspapers. Powers co-wrote Tori Amos: Piece By Piece, with Amos, which was published in 2005. In 1999, Power's book Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America was published. She was the editor, with Evelyn McDonnell, of the 1995 book Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Rap, and Pop and the editor of Best Music Writing 2010.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University, Powers went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of California.
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This week's batch of essential new albums includes Robyn's melancholy return to the dance floor, rock-and-roll madness from Ty Segall, the otherworldly voice of R&B singer NAO and more. -
Ketch Secor is a Renaissance man who not only continues to make great music with Old Crow, but has also branched out into children's education. -
Music critic Ann Powers curated a playlist of women expressing one thing: Enough is enough. -
This duo makes inspirational music pulled from Americana roots music and the couple's personal experience of surviving and thriving in the sometimes perilous 21st Century. -
One day after performing the songs in Nashville, the country supergroup has released all three digitally ahead of the release of its new album, Interstate Gospel. -
All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen talks with NPR Music's Ann Powers and Jewly Hight about the standout performances and surprising discoveries at this year's AMERICANAFEST. -
The legendary singer returns with a version of the Freddy Fender country weeper "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." -
A pair of concerts scheduled for Nov. 6 and 7 in Los Angeles will see a deep roster of famed artists performing songs from throughout Mitchell's deep catalog. -
The song appears on Piano & A Microphone 1983, an upcoming collection of cassette recordings Prince made at his home studio.
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In the Blue Light features ten recordings of old works, newly considered.
