On this week’s episode of Acoustic Café, it’s another Words & Music Show, pulling select thoughts, stories and performances out of our archives from the likes of Sting, Arlo Parks, Regina Spektor, Amy Ray, the late John Prine, guitar great Leo Kottke and many more!

See the playlist below and listen to the episodes on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Acoustic Café Playlist for Nov. 3, 2024

• “Million Dollar Intro” – Ani Difranco
• “Bye Bye Blackbird” – J.D. Souther (2011)
• “I Am A Pilgrim” – Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal (2023)
• “Come Around And Love Me” – Jalen Ngonda (2023)
• “A Mighty Thing”– Amy Ray (2023)
• “Soundtrack”– Matt Nathanson (2022)
• “Fields Of Gold” – Sting (2024)
• “Hope” – Arlo Parks (2021)
• “Stay Out Of It” – Michigander (2022)
• “Cast Iron Skillet” – Jason Isbell (2023)
• “I Get A Kick (Out Of You)” – Jamie Cullum (2004)
• “When The Silence Falls”– Janis Ian (1996)
• “July Jones”– The New Pornographers (2023)
• “Fear, Fear”– Kat Edmonson (from the SongWriter podcast)
• “You Got Gold” – John Prine (1995)
• “Lover Come Back” – City & Colour (2015)
• “Everything Is Alright” – Peter One (2023)
• “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love & Understanding” – Curtis Stigers (2021)
• “Ballad Of A Politician” – Regina Spektor (2017)
• “Play God” – Ani Difranco (2018)
• “Tough Mother” – Shemekia Copeland (2024)
• “Pacing The Cage” – Bruce Cockburn (1997)
• “Oddball” – Leo Kottke (1997)

Coming up this Sunday on Acoustic Café, the in-studio guest will be rock ‘n’ roll icon Sting.

Sting’s voice arrived in the new wave era as the frontman for The Police. And up until that point the world really hadn’t heard anything like it. The Police made five iconic albums between 1978-1983, and then called it a day. By 1985, Sting was not only established in music, but film as well, and the movie roles didn’t slow his solo career at all — now having released 15 solo albums.

After the first night of his current North American tour, Sting brought guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas to our studio at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor for their brand new song, a couple from Sting’s vast catalog and a classic from The Police. Our discussion included this new phase of Sting’s career (Sting 3.0), recent collaborations, his Broadway musical (The Last Ship) which may become an opera soon, and lots more.

Tune in to Acoustic Café from 1-3 p.m. this Sunday on 101.9 WDET FM, on the mobile app or online at wdet.org to hear the full interview.