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The nominees for the Songwriters Hall of Fame have been announced. There are 24 nominees this year. In the performing songwriters category the nominees are Mariah Carey, Jimmy Cliff, Missy Elliott, Vince Gill, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Tommy James, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics, Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, Lloyd Price, John Prine, and Yusuf Islam.

This year's non-performing nominees are Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Dallas Austin, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, L. Russell Brown and Irwin Levine, Dean Dillon, Jerry Fuller, Tom T. Hall, Roger Nichols, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore, P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, and Jack Tempchin.

Out of the 24 nominees, only six will be inducted into the hall of fame, which will be determined by the Songwriting Hall of Fame's voting members. If Missy Elliot makes it this year, she will also become the first female rapper to make it into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Haruki Murakami to donate extensive record collection

Author Haruki Murakami has announced that he will donate his notable record collection to his alma mater, Waseda University, in Tokyo. According to NPR Music Murakami's donation will include more than 10,000 albums and his extensive collection of written materials and correspondence. But as a writer who uses music as his inspiration, Murakami isn't ready to donate his collection quite yet.

Willie Nelson tribute to take place in Nashville on Jan. 12

An all-star group of musicians will pay tribute to Willie Nelson on Jan. 12 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The performers include Alison Krauss, the Avett Brothers, George Strait, Jack Johnson, John Mellencamp, Kris Kristofferson, Lee Ann Womack, Lyle Lovett, Norah Jones and Little Willies, Sheryl Crow, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, and Vince Gill, with additional musicians to be announced in the coming weeks.

The tribute will also feature a performance by Nelson himself. At almost 86 years old, he recently released both a tribute to Frank Sinatra entitled My Way and a second album, Last Man Standing in 2018.

Tickets for "Willie: Life & Songs of an American Outlaw" go on sale Nov. 12.

Vampire Weekend to release new album

Vampire Weekend will release its new album next year. A follow up to the group's last album Modern Vampires in the City, it will be the first album the group has released since 2013.

What's so special about Iceland Airwaves?

Mark Wheat talks about the history and importance of Iceland Airwaves, as well as his experiences attending last year's festival, which The Current is covering extensively.

Songs sampled in today's episode:

Jahzzar - Comedie (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games - Against the Wall (CC BY 3.0)
Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing
The Beatles - Norwegian Wood
Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On
David Szesztay - Smiling Cars (CC By-NC 3.0)
Mumford and Sons - White Blank Page
Asgeir - Stardust
200000 Naglbitar - Stopp nr. 7
Uncan - Keeping Track (CC BY-NC 4.0)