Terry Gross

And Dave Frishberg died of Alzheimer's in 2021.

I always describe Becky as one of my favorite living singers, and I feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to work with her and to showcase her singing on our show.

Rest in peace, Becky.

Wonderful.

And that's Rebecca Kilgore singing with Dave Frishberg at the piano.

Becky, welcome to Fresh Air.

This has been an ambition of mine for a long time to have you sing on the show, and I'm delighted that we're actually doing it.

It's remarkable to me that you can sing as wonderfully as you do, and yet having you started so late professionally to actually sing in front of people.

That's right, but I was a closet singer before that, so I had lots of practice in my own living room.

Actually, two and a half.

What was the turning point to give it up?

Equally remarkable to me is that you didn't even sing in front of people until, what, you were 30, 31?

That's right.

Do you have a good musical memory?

When you're trying to learn a song, do you get it the first time, or...?

Say you're learning a melody that has a difficult interval.

What's your idea of a difficult melody to learn?

See what I mean?

No, what makes that tricky?

Because there's a lot of odd intervals and quick notes.