World Cafe Playlist for 10/15/2026

Fruit Bats joins host Stephen Kallao

For Eric D. Johnson, who performs as Fruit Bats, being from the Midwest is “almost more of a state of mind.” On the World Cafe, Johnson talks about how the flat expanse of where he grew up influenced his latest album, The Landfill, plus he revisits his time teaching at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk and what it taught him about performance.

Listen to the session here.
Today’s Playlist
Fleetwood Mac “Gold Dust Woman” Rumours
Billy Strings “Burn the Other End” So Much for Goodbyes
Modest Mouse “Fire It Up” We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Blondie “Rapture” Autoamerican
Courtney Barnett “One Thing at a Time” Creature of Habit
Fruit Bats “Flamingo” The Ruminant Band
Fruit Bats “The Saddest Part of the Song” The Landfill
Fruit Bats “The Landfill” The Landfill
Fruit Bats “Perhaps We’re a Storm” The Landfill
Beirut “Gallipoli” Gallipoli
Stephen Wilson Jr. “Hardwired” Hardwired (single)
The Beths “Straight Line Was a Lie” Straight Line Was a Lie

Hour Two
Bob Dylan “Just Like a Woman” Blonde on Blonde
The Womack Sisters “If I Let You” The Womack Sisters
Santana “Evil Ways” Santana
Caroline Rose “Chow Mein” Gentling The Horse at The Walt Whitman Mall
Remi Wolf “Bottle” MUD
Jenny Lewis “Red Bull and Hennessy” Recorded Live for The World Cafe
Arlo Parks “Black Dog” Recorded Live for The World Cafe
Arlo Parks “Cola” Recorded Live for The World Cafe
Mavis Staples “Have a Little Faith” Recorded Live for The World Cafe
Spoon “Inside Out” Recorded Live for The World Cafe
Spoon “Small Stakes” Kill the Moonlight
This Is Lorelei “Billy Came Back” The Singer in My Band
Lucinda Williams “2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten” Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Sonic Youth “Kool Thing” Goo