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The 10 Standout World Cafe Sessions Of 2019 (So Far)

Clockwise from left: Lizzo, Gary Clark Jr., Maggie Rogers
Lizzo (Lissa Alicia/WXPN), Gary Clark Jr. (Frank Maddocks/Courtesy of the artist), Maggie Rogers (Olivia Bee/Courtesy of the artist)
Clockwise from left: Lizzo, Gary Clark Jr., Maggie Rogers

Summer's here and the time is right for looking back on some of our favorite World Cafe sessions of the year! Let's just say, it's been an inspiring one so far.

We caught Maggie Rogers and Lizzo in the eye of their respective superstar storms, and were totally knocked out by J.S. Ondara's performance of songs from his debut album. Willie Nelson let us hop on his tour bus to talk about everything from hanging in Amsterdam with Snoop Dogg to making his new album. The members of Cage The Elephant wore their sunglasses indoors to share lessons learned from twisting heartache into rock and roll. Jenny Lewis showed off some of the best songwriting of her career and the members of The Cranberries reflected on finishing the band's final album after losing their beloved lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan.

We hope you enjoy listening back to some standout sessions (in no particular order) and we can't wait to see what the rest of 2019 has to offer.


Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.