The masters of cello have learned how to wrench mournful, longing sounds from their instruments, with the tug and stab of a bow across the four fat strings. But Erik Friedlander has a different approach: he strums and plucks the strings more than he bows them.

On Block Ice & Propane, he offers pieces that he says were inspired by the family road trips he took as a child with his father (the illustrious photographer Lee Friedlander) at the wheel.

Friedlander recently joined Jacki Lyden in NPR's Studio 4A, cello in hand.

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