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What can eccentric young New York singer-songwriter Nellie McKay have in common with notoriously normal Hollywood icon Doris Day? The comparison only begins with McKay's new album, Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day.

Rap music may have started in the Bronx, but in recent years, the South has taken over the airwaves. The latest selection in the You Must Hear This series, in which musicians talk about a piece of music they love, is some early Southern rap from the group that coined the term "Dirty South." Rapper Bun B, of the Grammy-nominated group UGK, says that Goodie Mob's debut album inspires his life and music to this day.

Cash has a new album on which she sings one of the most famous lines in country music: "The lights in the harbor don't shine for me." That's from the Hal David and Paul Hampton classic, "Sea of Heartbreak." Many artists have recorded this song in the past half-century, and Cash recently sat down with NPR's Steve Inskeep to discuss its history and significance.

Irish singer Imelda May is a walking, talking, singing embodiment of the 1950s. She wears leopard-print sweaters, tight bad-girl jeans and her hair in a ponytail. Although May has won numerous awards in 2009, her music harkens back to a style that was popular in the '50s: rockabilly.

Liane Hansen isn't the only one celebrating 20 years at Weekend Edition. Director Ned Wharton has been around since Hansen's first music interview, and has been making music recommendations for a decade. He checks up on three artists previously featured on the program.

Nirvana's Bleach (reissued this month) didn't make much of a splash when it was released in 1989. But with hindsight, the album shows a band clearly hurtling toward greatness. A mere two years later, Nirvana headlined England's Reading Festival; by then, the greatness was obvious.

He wrote the words, and sometimes the music, for more than 1,500 songs, among them "Skylark," "Blues in the Night" and "Moon River." He had a few hits himself on Capitol Records — which he started. He was a great American lyricist, and today marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

His father was a Beatle, but Dhani Harrison wanted a musical project that didn't carry the burden of his family name. So he started a band called thenewno2, where he's created a sound and a promotional strategy that is all his own.

The Baltimore Symphony conductor chooses a season of music built on the belief that understanding where we come from, and celebrating diversity, can create a sense of continuity, history and belonging — not to mention some great concerts.

Blues musician Joe Bonamassa started playing with B.B. King when he was 12. He's performed on stage with Eric Clapton and averages about 200 shows per year. His new DVD is called Joe Bonamassa, Live From the Royal Albert Hall. Host Scott Simon speaks with Bonamassa about living with the blues and how he got his nickname, "Smokin' Joe."