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March is Women's History Month!

Anderson East On World Cafe

Sometimes at a concert, an artist's encore can feel more like a premeditated given than an earned celebration. But if you've ever seen the captivating Anderson East live (high jumps, sheer vocal prowess and all), you might agree that he earns every single encore he plays. And so, it feels just fine that East has called his latest album Encore.

East studied engineering before making his way through songwriting circles in Nashville. He was discovered out at a show by producer Dave Cobb, who traded East studio time to make his label debut Delilah in exchange for some household tasks (as East told me, "I even refinished his basement floors and had no qualifications to do that"). Cobb was also at the helm of East's latest album.

You might have heard Cobb's name a lot on this show. He's the secret sauce right now in Nashville, having recently produced albums for Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and more.

East and I spoke in the second week of April. This was before the tragic death on April 20 of Swedish DJ Avicii, who co-wrote "Girlfriend," one of the songs you'll hear East perform. Avicii was 28 years old. We talked a bit about their time working together. Listen in the player.

Copyright 2018 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.