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Band-ing Together

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0006:01repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser 1 to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

So we have a special guest to help us with our next game. Please welcome NPR's music critic and correspondent and Nashville resident, Ann Powers.

(APPLAUSE)

ANN POWERS, BYLINE 2: Hello.

EISENBERG: Hello.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Welcome to ASK ME ANOTHER.

POWERS: Thank you so much. It's so exciting to have all y'all in this town.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) Where - yeah, you've lived and covered music - what? - New York, Seattle, LA.

POWERS: Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Roll Tide.

(CHEERING)

POWERS: Sorry all you barners, all you - all you others out there.

EISENBERG: OK. Secret languages are being spoken.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: So now that you have been in Nashville for a little while covering the music scene here, what sticks out to you about it?

POWERS: Well, Nashville is, I truly believe, the best music city in the country...

(APPLAUSE)

POWERS: ...Historically and especially now. And what sticks out to me is that anywhere you go you will meet an amazing musician. Look, we have an opera singer right here on stage with us tonight. When we first moved here, I remember the guy who came to fix our dishwasher had played with George Jones. And that's - that is Nashville in a nutshell.

EISENBERG: Now, one of the things I think that is unique about you and you covering music is that you are not beholden to one specific genre 3 of music. So what's your playlist like?

POWERS: Well, someone once said I like sexy music, which I'm not going to say no (laughter). I like good songs. I like anyone who really expresses amazing emotion with art and craft, that perfect balance of art and craft. Whether it's punk rock or prog rock even or a great country song, I love it all.

EISENBERG: So if you were to, say, do a lot of housecleaning, what genre would you pick?

POWERS: Oh, wow. Well, I don't know. Maybe you have to break out the hip-hop for house cleaning, you know?

EISENBERG: Yeah, yeah, I see what you're saying, OK.

POWERS: Especially, you know, Southern rap, you can't really get better than that for, like, pushing you through that getting your kitchen floor clean. It's motivating.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

POWERS: The beat and the rhythms and the word play inspires me to get that extra shine on the counter.

EISENBERG: Yeah, OK, good. Word play inspires shine on the counter.

POWERS: (Laughter).

EISENBERG: OK. Ann, meet our contestants 4, Joshua and Allen, and let's get to our next challenge. It's called Band-ing Together. Musicians often pay tribute to each other in their music, but in this game, they've gone the extra mile. They have hidden the names of other musical acts right inside their own names.

POWERS: So if I say George Clinton's psychedelic soul group wants you to know we are young just like the pop band, you'd answer Funkadelic and Fun. Fun is in Funkadelic. This is a hard game.

EISENBERG: It is a hard game. We're going to give you clues to both acts. You are going to buzz in and tell us the longer act's name and the shorter act hidden inside of it. OK. Now, Allen, you won the last game, so if you win this, you're going to go straight to the final round. Joshua, you need to win this game or we are going to put you in hiding. Here we go.

POWERS: This solo artist was in a trio of brothers, but he left to pursue his own career. Don't get jealous. He was just following the advice of a rapper who told him I can.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) The blank stares.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Allen.

ALLEN SLOAN: Nick Jonas and Nas.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

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POWERS: Killin' it.

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POWERS: No one knows if this 21st-century hard rock band fronted by Josh Homme likes the 1970s band fronted by Freddie Mercury.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Allen.

SLOAN: Queens of the Stone Age and Queen.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

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EISENBERG: I wonder who rocked whom.

(LAUGHTER)

POWERS: You are the champion, Ophira.

EISENBERG: This pop singer isn't just all about that bass 5. She's also about this San Francisco rock band that plays "Hey, Soul Sister."

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Allen.

SLOAN: Meghan Trainor and Train.

EISENBERG: That is correct, yeah.

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EISENBERG: All right. This is your last clue.

POWERS: You may see a bad moon rising when you realize these classic roots rockers welcomed this post grunge powerhouse with arms wide open. And now I will...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

POWERS: ...Demonstrate with arms wide open.

EISENBERG: Allen.

SLOAN: Creedence Clearwater Revival 7 and Creed 6.

EISENBERG: Yes, you got that one.

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EISENBERG: Puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?

ART CHUNG: It was a tough game for Josh. Congratulations to Allen. You've won both games, and you're moving on to the final round.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

EISENBERG: Ann Powers, thank you so much for helping 8 us out with the game. Hey, everybody, how about a round of applause?

POWERS: Such a pleasure. See y'all out there in the clubs. Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

EISENBERG: Coming up, we'll find out who will face off against Allen in our final round at the end of the show. And Martina McBride joins us to belt out some Tennessee pride. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and you're listening to ask me another from NPR.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TENNESSEE")

CARL PERKINS: (Singing) Let's give old Tennessee credit for music as they play it up in Nashville every day. Let's old Tennessee credit for music as they play it in that old hillbilly way.