A trip to North Carolina to study bluegrass yielded this lesson: Earl Scruggs was the greatest there ever was I spent a couple of months last year studying bluegrass in North Carolina, and I learned that there are is one tune you never ask a banjo player to play for you. Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Earl Scruggs's most famous instrumental, is a tune so familiar, so oft-played, that even suggesting it at a jam will mark you out as an idiot know-nothing newcomer. It's the equivalent of self-identifying as a Trekkie, when the correct term is Trekker. If you know one banjo tune – well, if you only kn ..read more

It became a surprise top 10 hit in Australia and still gets played in clubs and karaoke halls. So why has the song’s appeal endured? It starts with a slinky, bass-licked groove before the vocals come in: “Whispering our goodbyes, waiting for a train / I was dancing with my baby in the summer rain.” That may not be the most distinctive opening, but Belinda Carlisle’s Summer Rain makes the most of such universal scene-setting, unlocking its full power-ballad potential with a sultry slow build, funky string accents and one hell of a heart-on-sleeve chorus. Related: It felt so right: I Kissed a Gi ..read more

Artists such as Lorde, Sparks, the Moody Blues and Metallica bring changes of pace to a prog-heavy playlist with twists and turns Here is this week’s playlist – songs picked by a reader from hundreds of stories and suggestions on last week’s callout. Thanks for taking part. Read more about how our weekly series works at the end of the piece. Related: Go back to go forward: the resurgence of prog rock ..read more

Augusta Holmès’ compositions won awards and acclaim from admirers including Liszt and Saint-Saëns, so why is she, and so many of her female contemporaries, all but forgotten today? Augusta Holmès was a remarkably gifted French composer, pianist and singer with a voice of extraordinary range and colour. Rossini told an audience after one of her early concerts: “Mark my words, you will hear a lot more from her. Remember that Rossini told you this.” Liszt wrote that the works by her male contemporaries were mere trifles compared to her 1870 opera Astarté. She was a prolific composer of music conc ..read more

Matt Bellamy and Dominic Howard joined us to chat about their favourite conspiracy theories, secret side projects and what exactly Thought Contagion is 1.05pm GMT Thanks guys, we loved your questions. - DH Really enjoyed talking to you and will continue on Twitter later. - MB 1.04pm GMT LewisF2001 asks: Chris, what’s your favourite young and upcoming band? Chris isn't here sadly, but I like that band Judah and the Lion. I heard some artist, I think a bit of a solo act, called Grandson, the other day, and it sounds a bit like weird, heavier Twenty One Pilots, Nine Inch Nails kinda thing, sounds ..read more

Katy Perry has expressed regret at the stereotypes peddled on her debut single. She’s not the only artist who has attempted to distance herself from badly aged material What a difference a decade makes. “If I had to write that song again, I probably would make an edit on it,” Katy Perry recently told Glamour magazine of her 2009 breakthrough hit, I Kissed a Girl. “Lyrically, it has a couple of stereotypes in it. Your mind changes so much in 10 years, and you grow so much. What’s true for you can evolve.” Given that I Kissed a Girl is little more than a piece of titillation – “I hope my boyfrie ..read more

The DJ and all-round music evangelist answered your questions about taking over from Zane Lowe, confiscating phones in clubs and the lack of male feminist allies in the music industry 2.01pm GMT That’s all from Annie Mac! Thanks for your questions folks. I'm off to do the school run! 2.00pm GMT Peadar76 asks: Do you have tinnitus? Affirmative. I have lost hearing in my left ear and tinnitus is an old friend. I wear moulded ear plugs now. 2.00pm GMT AndPulli asks: What’s worse: Trump or Brexit? Trump is worse because Brexit hasn't happened yet. 1.59pm GMT regi1873 asks: Do you have a favourite ..read more

Dwyer has released 21 albums with Thee Oh Sees – and 20 other records that range from German industrial electronics to heavy metal. He gives the backstories about key tracks in his vast back catalogue ‘My motto is: try everything, life is short,” says John Dwyer, the leader of San Francisco garage rockers Thee Oh Sees. “We are growing at every turn. Every day you get a little older, a little closer to the grave – you should taste it all.” A master of contemporary garage rock, he came into prominence as part of the fruitful San Francisco scene of the early 2000s. Since then Thee Oh Sees have ra ..read more

Ahead of Chance the Rapper’s bow as the emcee of SNL, we take a look at his musical forebears who have pleased, shocked and nosedived over the years This weekend, Chance the Rapper will take the stage to host Saturday Night Live, leaving the musical guest duties to Eminem. Last weekend, Taylor Swift rejoined the late-night sketch institution for a couple of songs, but she also handled full hosting responsibilities back in 2009. Ever since Paul Simon emceed the second-ever episode back in 1975, SNL has granted adventurous musicians the opportunity to try their hand at sketch work. Episodes host ..read more

With her synthpop-heavy sixth album, the popstar dispenses with her diary-like lyrics in favour of something darker and more suggestive For any Taylor Swift fan, a new album release promises not just a fresh batch of music but a chance to engage in that old Swiftian pastime: unpacking and deciphering the references in her lyrics, from allusions to the boys who’ve earned her ire to the ones that captured her heart. Following the release of the superstar’s sixth album, Reputation, the tradition persists: except this time, the album’s as much about Swift as it is the courtships that put tabloids ..read more