Music

In the early '90s, Ben Folds Five achieved underground success by playing the college circuit, selling out small clubs all across the country.

That all changed with the success of its 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen. Its hit single "Brick" went to No. 6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks list, only the second single in the band's history to chart.

We first saw Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside a few years back, opening for The Avett Brothers at Portland's Crystal Ballroom. What caught our attention then — the group's fresh approach to old country and rockabilly styles, as well as its disarming stage presence — has only gotten stronger through touring and the release of the band's first record, Dirty Radio, in 2011.

Singer-songwriter Arthur Alligood makes his first appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, W.V. Alligood won the 2011 Mountain Stage NewSong contest, beating out more than 2,000 other entries based on the quality of his songwriting and performances.

It took a while, but the London folk-rock band Mumford & Sons broke big with its 2009 debut album, Sigh No More. The album combines the raspy vocals of singer Marcus Mumford with lush harmonies and rootsy instrumentation on tracks that range from soothing to rocking.

This Sunday, a landmark composition of the 20th century will be webcast by NPR, and led by the quintessential 21st century conductor: 31-year-old Gustavo Dudamel, who will conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). Dudamel spoke about his experience of this earthshaking piece with All Things Considered host Robert Siegel.

This week's Piano Jazz is a rebroadcast of a show that first aired in 1985, presented as a tribute to Blossom Dearie, who died in 2009 at age 82.

The aptly named singer and pianist Blossom Dearie had a unique, childlike voice that, along with truly swinging piano work, could deliver scathing wit wrapped in a sweet package.

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