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David Wax Museum On World Cafe

David Wax Museum.
Claire Roeth
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Courtesy of the artist
David Wax Museum.

David Wax Museum is built around the duo of singer-songwriter David Wax and his partner, Suz Slezak. While studying at Harvard, Wax visited Mexico and has maintained an interest in Mexican music ever since. Early on in David Wax Museum's career, the band made a big impact at the Newport Folk Festival by jumping into the audience and playing acoustically using, among other things, a percussion instrument made from a donkey's jawbone.

The band's new album, Guesthouse, shifts slightly away from its Mexican influences and toward a more straightforward pop approach. But in today's session, Wax says the song form of Son Jarocho still informs the music. Hear the full conversation and performance on this page.

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