NPR Music

The history of folk and pop music is littered with gorgeous intertwined voices: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Jayhawks' Mark Olson and

Singer-songwriter and roots musician extraordinaire Tim O'Brien closed the second of two Mountain Stage road shows in Grand Marais, Minn., on the shore of Lake Superior. A favorite of Mountain Stage audiences, crew members, listeners and fellow guest artists for 29 years, O'Brien has long held the record for appearing on the show more than any other performer. A multi-instrumentalist of the highest order, O'Brien sits in with nearly every guest on this episode.

"Every one of us has a story in his heart... Storyteller, tell us stories to make us forget our reality. Leave us in the world of once upon a time."

So go some of the lines from "Raoui" ("Storyteller"), the opening song in this Tiny Desk Concert with Algerian singer-songwriter Souad Massi. Performing in a mix of North African Arabic, Berber and French, Massi has carved out a life for herself as just such a storyteller. Her unflinching, deeply intimate songs — paired with her beautiful, cool light-beam of a voice — belie the struggles she's endured to make her own stories heard.