WFUV's Take Five

From 2011: With punk roots and a country soul, veteran songwriter John Doe continued to expand his solo sound with the album 'Keeper,' and he dropped by FUV to talk with host Rita Houston about the songs, and the guests that made them happen.

From 2010: Charlotte Gainsbourg has acted in a Bob Dylan bio-pic, sung on a Madonna record, and also released an album produced by Beck called, 'IRM.' During a live session in Studio A Charlotte spoke with FUV's Kara Manning about working with Beck and what it was like to take a break from acting to go on tour.

From 2010: Sharon Van Etten’s album, ‘Epic,’ features harmonies with members of Sufjan Stevens’ band and ‘She Keeps Bees,’ and earned heaps of praise from TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone among others. Sharon came into FUV’s Studio A to play some acoustic songs, and to talk with host Alisa Ali.

From 2010: Big Head Todd and the Monsters found a lot of success in the nineties with the song 'Bittersweet,' and the album, 'Sister Sweetly.' In 2010 the band released the album 'Rocksteady,' and Todd Park Mohr showed up solo in Studio A to play a few songs during a chat with FUV's Darren DeVivo.

From 2011: Nellie McKay interpreted songs by Doris Day on her album, 'Normal as Bluebery Pie,' but her follow-up, 'Home Sweet Mobile Home' found her back writing her own quirky, funny, heartbreaking songs. Nellie talked with FUV’s Rita Houston about the album and played an FUV Live show at New York’s City Winery.

From 2010: Los Campesinos! are an indie pop group that formed in Cardiff, but for a band with eight members, it's surprising none of them come from Tom Jones' homeland. Their second full album is called, 'Romance is Boring,' and it comes on the heels of an EP, 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed,' which they discussed and played for The Alternate Side's Alisa Ali.

FUV Live 16 Artist: The Alternate Side's Eric Holland talks with Robert DeLong about his debut album, 'Just Movement,' and the techniques he uses to perform the songs. DeLong also performs the songs 'Global Concepts' and 'Happy' in WFUV's Studio A.

FUV Live 16 Artist: The Mavericks (Raul Malo, Robert Reynolds, Paul Deakin, Eddie Perez and Jerry Dale McFadden, with added accompaniment on accordion, bass, saxophone and trumpet) landed in WFUV's Studio A on the eve of releasing their long-awaited reunion album, 'In Time.' The 8-year wait was worth it for fans of the genre-defying Americana-ish combo, who spoke with host Rita Houston about their varied influences, their early days in Miami, and the joys of playing in a band with a shared history.

FUV Live 16 Artist: Wild Belle is a Chicago sibling duo and also a psychedelic love letter to the sounds of Africa and the Caribbean. Natalie Bergman's languid verses glide alongside the tenor sax of her brother Elliot, and it's all dressed in a delicious dub sensibility. No wonder Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club are fans. Get to know the band and hear songs from their debut album 'Isles' performed live in a Studio A session with FUV's Rita Houston.

FUV Live 16 Artist: After taking some time off from music to advocate for the rights of women prisoners in California, Thao Nguyen returned to music with a renewed sense of optimism and hope. It's reflected on the album 'We The Common,' and Thao and The Get Down Stay Down performed a few of the tunes in Studio A during a visit with host Russ Borris.

From 2012: Named after a Great Lake from their home state of Michigan, the guys from Lord Huron now call LA home, but frontman and songwriter Ben Schneider keeps his modern prairie roots alive on the band's terrific debut album, 'Lonesome Dreams.' Among the critical praise it's earned is FUV's Alisa Ali picking 'Time To Run' for her 'Top 10 Songs of 2012' list, and they shared a few other tunes during a visit with Alisa at FUV.

From 2010: When Sharon Jones named her album 'I Learned The Hard Way,' she wasn't kidding. It took her forty years to make it as a singer. However, she's now the first lady of the soul funk revival, and she made the trip from House of Soul Studios in Brooklyn to FUV with her Dap Kings to share some live tunes.

From FUV's Alisa Ali, 2012: 'Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna has an air of positivity about her. You can hear it in her music as well as in conversation with her. She is also an incredibly productive person. In addition to being a musician, she has a law degree, a clothing store, a record label and is a frequent fashion blogger. Makes you feel a little lazy, huh? Her main focus is music though and her warm vocals transformed our Studio A into a peacefully-comforting escape from the outside world.'

From 2010: Townes Van Zandt inspired many with his songs, including a young Steve Earle. Steve honored him with a full album of Van Zandt tunes called 'Townes,' and he stopped by FUV's Studio A to talk about the record and his late friend and mentor during an interview with host Rita Houston.

From 2011: The UK band Metronomy stopped by WFUV's Studio A to talk to The Alternate Side's Alisa Ali about the methods they employed to make the album 'The English Riviera,' and they played a few live songs as well.