Sun Midnight Sun, the second solo album from acclaimed singer, songwriter, and fiddle player Sara Watkins, is out today in North America, with a worldwide release on May 28. USA Today describes Sun Midnight Sun as "flawless" and gives the album four stars, "a gorgeous pop masterpiece with a string-player's sensibility ... pure musical pleasure." Watkins will celebrate the release of the album with a performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday and resumes her tour later this month.

Sara Watkins' new album, Sun Midnight Sun, is due out next week, May 8. The album, which was produced by Blake Mills and features special guest appearances by Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Benmont Tench, and Sean Watkins, is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. "Sara Watkins paints on a canvas called roots music, only to delve into any number of adjacent genres," says NPR. "She's a subtle star, but a star nonetheless." Watkins, currently touring the US, will join Browne as his very special guest on his tour this summer.

Happy Record Store Day! Nonesuch Records has made a series of special releases available today in honor of the fifth annual Record Store Day, a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA and hundreds of similar stores internationally. Among the artists releasing albums and singles today are The Black Keys, Dr. John, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Sara Watkins, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. A limited quantity of each Record Store Day title is also available on the Nonesuch Store now.

Sara Watkins launches a US tour this weekend with two sets at the Bluebonnets & Bluegrass festival in College Station, Texas. The tour celebrates the forthcoming release of Watkins' new album, Sun Midnight Sun, which is due out on May 8. The nationwide tour includes headlining shows, a series of special tour dates with Dawes, a number of summer festival sets, and a special acoustic set and signing celebrating the Record Store Day release of a limited-edition 7” of a rendition of The Everly Brothers classic “You’re the One I Love,” on which Fiona Apple duets with Watkins.

Sun Midnight Sun, the second solo album from acclaimed singer, songwriter, and fiddle player Sara Watkins, will be released May 8 on Nonesuch Records. Produced by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Blake Mills, co-founder of the band Simon Dawes, the album features special guest appearances by Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Benmont Tench, and Sean Watkins. The album is available to pre-order on in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive print signed by Watkins. In celebration of the album's release, Watkins will embark on a nationwide tour this spring and summer, including a series of special tour dates with Dawes.

Nonesuch Records will make a series of special releases available on Saturday, April 21, in honor of the fifth annual Record Store Day, a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA and hundreds of similar stores internationally. Included are a deluxe vinyl edition of The Black Keys' El Camino; Dr. John's new album, Locked Down, on vinyl; a 3CD/DVD set of Billy Bragg & Wilco's Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions; and limited-edition 7" vinyl singles of Sara Watkins covering The Everly Brothers and Carolina Chocolate Drops taking on Run-DMC.

Sara Watkins is back in the studio to record her second solo album for Nonesuch Records. The album, which will be produced by Blake Mills, is due out sometime next year. In the mean time, Watkins will be taking fans inside the recording process as it happens, offering a sneak peek of what's to come when she posts audio clips from each day's session. The first day's clip is now available; hear it here.

Sara Watkins—who, with her brother Sean, is currently on tour in California with the Blind Boys of Alabama—will soon be heading back into the studio to record her second solo album for Nonesuch Records. The album, which will be produced by Blake Mills, is due out sometime next year. Watkins will be taking fans inside the recording process as it happens when she posts audio clips from each day's session to her Facebook page and website.

Sara Watkins and her brother Sean launch a three-week tour in support of the Blind Boys of Alabama tonight at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The tour will make stops in Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and, of course, the Blind Boys' home state of Alabama. In mid-December, the Watkins join the Blind Boys out West for the group's Christmas show in California and Nevada. 

Sara Watkins closes out her months-long tour as a guest band member with the Decemberists outside the band's hometown of Portland, Oregon, at McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheatre's Concerts on the Lawn tonight. But there's not much in the way of down time for Watkins, as she heads straight into her next set of performances on Sunday: with Garrison Keillor and the cast of public radio's A Prairie Home Companion for their cross-country Summer Love Tour.

Sara Watkins will join Garrison Keillor and the cast of public radio's A Prairie Home Companion on another cross-country tour that will take them from Alaska to Alabama this August and September on their second-annual Summer Love Tour. The concert tours will consist of "evenings of passionate duets, hot jazz, Catchup, English Majors and Poesy" and such favorite Prairie Home Companion elements as Guy Noir Private Eye, the Cowboys Dusty and Lefty, and all the latest News from Lake Wobegon.

Newport music festival season gets under way this weekend, when the Newport Folk Festival returns, featuring several Nonesuch artists: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Emmylou Harris, Wanda Jackson, and Chris Thile & Michael Daves, plus Sara Watkins with the Decemberists and a special benefit performance by The Low Anthem. James Farm will play the following weekend's Newport Jazz Festival. NPR Music will be broadcasting and webcasting full concerts throughout each event.