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Adopted at birth and raised in New York, Americana singer Diana Jones grew up possessing a love for the music of Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton that never quite fit in with her Yankee upbringing. Years later, with the discovery of her birth family in the Tennessee hills, Jones was able to find her true sound, drawing on the music of her native soil.

Austin singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves has been writing meaningful music for many years, but his new album (Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away) is a game-changer. Cleaves recently stopped by KUT's Studio 1A to share some of his new songs.

Since 2002, The Horse's Ha has featured Chicago scene veterans James Elkington and Janet Beveridge Bean. On their debut album, Of the Cathmawr Yards, they demonstrate undeniable talent and a unique vision. The veterans have found common ground with a somber folk aesthetic and dreamy jazz rhythms.

Ken Tucker reviews the seventh studio album from Wilco. It's a mature and confident work, but it also has a playfully affectionate side.

For 30 years, Depeche Mode has pioneered electronic music with the use of synthesizers, influencing newer acts like Coldplay and The Killers. The band's latest record, Sounds of the Universe, combines past and future, tapping enduring themes such as lust and religion, while creating futuristic arrangements with drum machines.

With its unique merger of warped pop hooks and classic Americana, Cracker has won a devoted following in its 15 years together. On Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, frontman Dave Lowery sounds as sharp and cynical as ever.

With eight members — from hipsters and beautiful women to long-haired rockers and what look like everyday office workers — the Phenomenal Handclap Band has been painstakingly engineered to generate a big, bold sensory overload.

Astatke is a well-born Ethiopian who fell in love with jazz in the early '60s and has been making music ever since. His most impressive effort, critic Robert Christgau says, is his latest album Inspiration Information, which he created in collaboration with the British experimental funk musicians in The Heliocentrics.

Superbly re-arranged by pianist Robert Glasper, Parlato's cover of SWV's "Weak" receives a rhythmic pulse that's elastic and pneumatic by comparison, sometimes evoking the feel of bossa nova. Along the way, Parlato conveys a level of maturity in her sensual but no-frills delivery.

At the head of the '60s and '70s soul revival is a six-man collective of hip-hop, funk, and gritty soul influences - The Revelations featuring Tre' Williams. The sextet produced their debut in November and critics have been praising its daring hybrid style and the pure soul so evident in every one of the seven songs.