Jonathan Meiburg

The rock songwriter and ornithologist talks about his band's search for new sounds and a recent trip to South America in search of rare birds.

In this episode: When Nickel Creek called its 2007 final tour “Farewell (For Now),” fans had a feeling that the virtuosic bluegrass trio would be back. Turns out, we were right: the group, comprised of Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins, has recently reformed and released a new album, A Dotted Line. Hear Nickel Creek perfom new songs in the Soundcheck studio, and tell us about the woes of being mistaken for Nickelback.

Then: Last time we heard from composer Marco Beltrami, the world was engulfed in a zombie apocalypse, in World War Z. Now Beltrami turns his sights closer to home with the new AMC TV series Turn, about America's first spy ring, based in Beltrami's hometown of Setauket, Long Island.

And: Recently, the indie rock band Shearwater visited the Soundcheck studio, and during our interview, the band’s frontman and songwriter, Jonathan Meiburg, told us how much he admired Peter Matthiessen -- the author and naturalist known for writing 30 books, including The Snow Leopard and At Play in the Fields of the Lord. He won three National Book Awards, and he co-founded the legendary literary magazine, The Paris Review. Matthiessen died this past Saturday on Long Island. He was 86 years old. His latest book, In Paradise, came out this week -- and it was a book that Meiburggot a chance to read ahead of schedule. And not long before Matthiessen died, Meiburg got a chance to meet this personal hero. He shares that story.