A new project highlights music recorded in american prisons - some of it surprisingly light and catchy.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A journalism organization that reports on American prisons has launched a different kind of series. The Marshall Project sends out one song each week performed by an incarcerated person. Reporter Justin Kramon has more.

JUSTIN KRAMON: One day in 2014, Marshall Project staff writer Maurice Chammah was surfing eBay when he found a listing for a record.

MAURICE CHAMMAH: And it said on the eBay page that this was music that was recorded by men who were incarcerated in Texas back in the '70s.

KRAMON: The performance was part of an annual prison rodeo, where incarcerated people competed and provided comedy and music.…