Shape note singing is one of America's oldest musical traditions, and it is having a bit of a revival now because of an updated songbook. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) SIMON: Laura Atkinson and Justin Hicks, ...

PITTSBURGH – Alexa Kay is a Quaker, a denomination which has embraced simplicity and shunned more extravagant forms of worship, even singing. Nevertheless, Kay likes to sing, and that’s what led her ...

Shape note singing is one of the oldest musical traditions in this country. It’s a practice that began in colonial America, and after centuries of ups and downs in ...

On a quiet Saturday afternoon, eight people gathered in Christ Episcopal Church in Cape Girardeau to practice shape-note singing, a form of traditional music used in Christian worship for more than ...

Shape-note singing is a rousing participatory style sometimes characterized as “the punk rock of Protestant hymnody.” Founded over 25 years ago by Smithies, the powerful sound of the weekly Tuesday ...

Standing inside the Laurelhurst Club in Southeast Portland, Karen Willard said some of her family members believe she’s in a cult. It’s not hard to see why. She and hundreds of others have arrived to ...

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Laura Atkinson and Justin Hicks of Louisville Public Media about shape note singing and its influence across the American musical tradition. Shape note singing is one of ...