The Mountain Goats is a band built around John Darnielle, who just might be indie rock’s most inventive storyteller.  The Mountain Goats’ songs have been inspired by Darnielle’s troubled adolescence, geography, heavy metal, and on their newest album, “All Eternals Deck,” by a mysterious deck of tarot cards.

Suzanne Vega (Mary Rozzi)

Early in her career, Suzanne Vega turned slices of life into hits like “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner.” More recently, her music has told stories from her own life – and from other New Yorkers. Now, Vega has written about a literary hero in an original play called “Carson McCullers Talks About Love.” She joins us to plays songs from the piece talk about the iconic Southern author who wrote the novel “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.”