So here's the coolest thing about Feist: She's met Elmo. They hung out when she appeared on "Sesame Street" in the wake of that hugely popular commercial. So when I got her on the phone recently, of course I had to ask her about that.

"Elmo is Kevin and it's pretty phenomenal to see a man be able to inhabit a small red cloth child," Feist said. "So I would have to say that Elmo's quite genuine, born of something honest. There's a documentary called 'Being Elmo' that's all about that, how he was invented. It's pretty amazing."

Feist plays in Raleigh next week. For details on that, plus some talk about her very fine new album, see the interview in Friday's paper.