The Celtic Connections festival is underway in Glasgow with no shortage of Nonesuch artists participating. Ry Cooder joined the Chieftains in the Royal Concert Hall's Main Auditorium last night, while the Carolina Chocolate Drops played the Hall's Strathclyde Suite. The Low Anthem plays Thursday night, as does Natalie Merchant, who performed live on BBC Radio Scotland’s Global Gathering last night. Sara Watkins joins the festival's multi-artist Transatlantic Sessions this weekend.

As reported yesterday in the Nonesuch Journal, Natalie Merchant is set to make her Nonesuch debut with the April release of Leave Your Sleep. Tonight, fans in the UK can catch Natalie on the inaugural episode of the new BBC arts and culture discussion television program The Review Show, which airs live on BBC Two at 11 PM. She'll be the show's first music guest. Next week, Natalie performs live in Dublin and Glasgow.

Natalie Merchant is poised for the release of Leave Your Sleep, out April 6 [update: now April 13] on Nonesuch Records. This release is the culmination of seven years’ research and collaboration and is, in Merchant’s words, “the most elaborate project I have ever completed or even imagined.” A two-disc set, Leave Your Sleep is a collection of songs adapted from poems selected by Merchant and featuring musical collaborations with a broad spectrum of artists.

Natalie Merchant's musical sweep through London concludes with a free performance at the Free Word Centre, with songs from her forthcoming Nonesuch debut, Leave Your Sleep. Natalie was featured on BBC Radio 4's Today earlier this week. Her guest turn at Friday's opening night concert of the London Jazz Festival is available via BBC Radio 3, and BBC Radio Scotland has a preview of songs from the album on Global Gathering.

Natalie Merchant heads to London this week for the first of several performances in the UK and Continental Europe in the coming weeks. To mark these events and Natalie's forthcoming Nonesuch debut, due out in early 2010, Nonesuch.com is taking a look back at the singer-songwriter's career in a special video piece, available now at nonesuch.com/media.

Natalie Merchant will perform and discuss a selection of songs from her forthcoming Nonesuch release at the new Free Word Centre in London on November 18. She has been researching, writing, and recording a collection of songs adapted from the works of various classic and contemporary poets; the evening will give a unique insight into the project prior to the album’s release in early 2010.

Natalie Merchant will give her first UK performance in over seven years at Conway Hall in London November 16, showcasing material from her forthcoming Nonesuch debut. The previous Friday, Natalie will join the London Jazz Festival Orchestra at the Barbican for the London Jazz Festival's Opening Night; a week later, she'll perform at the Crossing Border festival in The Hague. This Friday, UK fans can catch Natalie on a special episode of BBC Two's Newsnight.

Nonesuch Records will release its first album from Natalie Merchant in early 2010. The record is her first release since 2003's The House Carpenter's Daughter. Throughout her career, Merchant has had tremendous popular and critical success. Vogue has called her "one of the most successful and enduring alternative artists to emerge from the eighties—intact and uncompromised."