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Ann Powers

@annkpowers.bsky.social
26K followers 1.7K following 3.2K posts

I write about music things and things music at NPR and elsewhere. Latest book: TRAVELING: ON THE PATH OF JONI MITCHELL. Out now in affordable paperback!

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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I feel everybody needs a palate cleanser so here is an indisputably great song about Abilene (where the Choosin’ Texas story takes place) youtu.be/wq6FxVxgM0M?...
youtu.be
Plains - "Abilene" (Lyric Video)
YouTube video by ANTI- Records
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
OK I will make one contribution to this whole ridic Choosin’ Texas “debate.” bother to listen and you’ll realize the narrator isn’t the one Choosin’ Texas, she’s getting dumped by a dude for a Texas girl and going back to Tennessee. whether you would or wouldn’t choose Texas is frankly irrelevant
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Great thread and respect to @marissarmoss.bsky.social for the hard work and good thinking
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My two favorite American TV shows of this century were both included in the bottom five of the Times Top 100 and that says a lot about me
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is what music writing can and should be
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The thing I don’t get about the whole Ed Sheeran/Macklemore thing is Hind’s Hall was released in 2024. How idiotic would you have to be to blindsided
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Margaret Glaspy pays tribute to Dolly at her Nashville show at the Blue Room
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
funny, me too
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Everyone had their own experience of 9/11 but those of us who were in New York shared aspects others can’t understand. And within the city everyone felt it differently. Anyway here is what I wrote on the 10th anniversary, it still rings true to me. www.npr.org/sections/the...
npr.org
Showing Up: Live Music After Sept. 11
In the aftermath of the tragedy, a makeshift community slowly reunited in New York's clubs and venues, watching together while some musicians addressed the events of Sept. 11 directly, while others si...
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Will I be doomscrolling when AI kills us all
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Chicago area friends, I'll be in town and doing things at Evanston Folk Fest all weekend and I'm particularly excited about this FREE songwriters' round that's also turning into a stealth Dolly tribute, please come if you can! It's Friday night at @evanstonspace.bsky.social
A poster for the Coat of Many Colors songwriters' circle with She Returns From War, Anjimile, Growing Boys and Creekbed Carter Hogan, Friday at Space in Evanston at 8 p.m.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
To be totally obvious what kind of psycho thinks Nathan Fielder will clear her name
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is great. The most clear-headed and informed essay on the state of criticism I’ve read in a long while. www.hearingthings.co/what-does-it...
hearingthings.co
What Does It Even Mean to Be a Music Critic Now?
A veteran culture writer surveys the radically transforming journalistic ecosystem.
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Reposted by Ann Powers
Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 04/09/2026
This is all so good, and loved this line towards the end. "Criticism is ultimately a product of sustained curiosity and care; music criticism persists because it offers the type of context and friction that fandom alone cannot."
hearingthings.co
What Does It Even Mean to Be a Music Critic Now?
A veteran culture writer surveys the radically transforming journalistic ecosystem.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
All the mothers are going
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Yes. One of the greatest blues, unrivaled performance
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Here it is: a report from Daisy Chain Fields from the one and only Jenn Pelly, most qualified to rock this assignment: www.npr.org/2026/09/02/n...
npr.org
Olivia Rodrigo's women-led Daisy Chain Fields festival put the power in fans' hands
The inaugural edition of Rodrigo's one-day, women-led concert, which featured artists like Stevie Nicks, Sarah McLachlan and Chappell Roan, didn't sideline its stated political mission.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Texas pals, help my frien Wally
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Before Dolly's passing united us all in grief and in celebrating her, I went to an amazing Big Thief show. My review/report got stuck in the dustbin but it's here now. Some thoughts on exactly what lineage Big Thief is joining with this new music www.npr.org/2026/08/27/n...
npr.org
Big Thief offers a glimpse at the power and wonder of creation
At a pair of surprise shows at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the beloved indie group was accompanied by an all-star crew of collaborators to preview a forthcoming triple album, Horsepower.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
this is how dolly mattered to people
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Also so true
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
So true
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Truly, so many great pieces are being published on Dolly, but this is one of the best-informed and most complex.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Loved hearing the listener stories!!
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Greatest timing in a song. No arguments. RIP sweet transvestite www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlwn...
youtube.com
I see you shiver with anticipation
YouTube video by Zampone
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Too much. Crying on the phone with my kid. Our beloved maltipoo is named Franknfurter
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I wrote about Dolly as a songteller bit.ly/4ivoW1c
bit.ly
How Dolly Parton wrote the story of a changing America
Parton, who died at 80 on Tuesday, had charm, depth, beauty, wit and radiant goodness. She was also a songwriter whose work told the story not just of country music but of the country itself.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Read this to learn the real story about Tennessee's greatest
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A world without Dolly doesn’t seem possible. A Tennessee without Dolly, definitely not possible.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
YES
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Reposted by Ann Powers
Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 18/08/2026
Back in @xtramagazine.com for the first time a whole, I wrote a little about Phoebe Bridgers and the subterfuge of grief xtramagazine.com/culture/musi...
xtramagazine.com
Phoebe Bridgers isn’t interested in the truth on her new album | Xtra Magazine
The Bridgers on “Lost Weekend” is an earnest journeyman, shaping each painful memory into beautiful songs that trade equally between mourning and wry contentment
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Happy news
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Netflix sci fi buddy series in the works
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
They just don’t make music videos like this any more
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
RIP to one of the originators of contemporary music writing and one of its most passionate voices. I was proud to be part of this.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
a lovely and astute analysis with some lightbulb-igniting thoughts about gender and the voice
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Reviewed the new Phoebe Bridgers www.npr.org/2026/08/13/n...
npr.org
Phoebe Bridgers remembers everything
Bridgers' third solo album is her account of a time in which she retreated from the public eye, reeling from the effects of fame, a complicated love life and the sudden death of her father.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Thanks for posting this link! It’s to the NPR Music newsletter thus it looks weird
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
So mad for everyone, huge shoutout to @soundbitesnyc.bsky.social of Bill’s Indie Basement, I got so many great recs from him!!! Will be subscribing to whatever he does next
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
This is totally awesome but I saw the Cramps a buncha times and no one ever had these looks on their faces at a Cramps show
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Thank you!
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Vicki Wickham helped shape the British Invasion, helped Dusty find her way to Memphis, helped birth Labelle and was Nona’s beloved partner for 60 plus years. Sing her name! RIP www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/a...
nytimes.com
Vicki Wickham, Behind-the-Scenes Force in Pop Music, Dies at 87 (Gift Article)
She managed artists like Labelle and Dusty Springfield, and helped run the influential 1960s British TV showcase “Ready Steady Go!”
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Frankie has informed me there is an emergency situation and immediate belly rubs are required
A prostrate grey Maltipoo receiving copious belly rubs
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Negative reviews serve a purpose and can be fun to read but they are not more heroic or even more courageous than positive reviews
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
this is very moving
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I liked Nolan‘s Odyssey and found aspects problematic. I liked Emily Wilson’s takedown and found aspects problemaric. I liked Joyce Carole Oates’ takedown of Emily Wilson’s takedown of Nolan’s Odyssey and found aspects problematic. I liked (wake me when the next dagger is dropped thru the ceiling)
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
You know Christopher Nolan is Gen X bc that Odyssey score is the unholy marriage of grunge, Tool and the Blue Man Group (I kind of loved it). I know Goransson is younger but you gotta please the boss
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
www.npr.org/2026/07/29/g...
npr.org
Glen Hansard, Irish songwriter and 'Once' star, dies at 56
Glen Hansard, the Irish singer who won an Oscar for the musical movie Once and the led the bands The Frames and The Swell Season, died on Wednesday. He died following a motorcycle crash in Dublin.
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
So sad to hear of the death of Glen Hansard. One of the most curious and generous musicians the island of music ever produced. Heartbroken for his young family and oceans of friends
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Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
This
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