Soul and blues singer Robert Finley will release his second studio album, Goin’ Platinum!, December 8, 2017, via Dan Auerbach's label, Easy Eye Sound, which is distributed by Nonesuch Records. "He's the greatest living soul singer as far as I'm concerned," says Auerbach. Finley is surrounded by all-time-great session musicians with skill to match his singular voice, including drummer Gene Chrisman (Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin), keys player Bobby Woods (JJ Cale, Bobby Womack), horns players from Preservation Hall, and legendary guitarist Duane Eddy. Goin’ Platinum! was co-written and produced by Auerbach and also features writing credits by legendary songwriters John Prine, Nick Lowe, and Pat McLaughlin.

Robert Plant has announced the first North American headline dates on his world tour celebrating his new album, Carry Fire, due October 13. The album track "Bluebirds Over the Mountain," with special guest Chrissie Hynde joining Plant on vocals, is also available today, as is a striking companion visual, which you can see here. The song was written by rockabilly legend Ersel Hickey and recorded by both Richie Valens and The Beach Boys. The live dates begin February 9 at Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium and continue through early March. Carry Fire is available to pre-order with instant downloads of the tracks "The May Queen," "Bones of Saints," and "Bluebirds Over the Mountain."

Rostam followed his performance on Conan last night with a forty-minute set and interview with KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic today. He spoke with host Jason Bentley about his just-released debut album, Half-Light, and was joined by the Calder Quartet to perform several songs from the new album. You can watch the full session here.

Rostam was on Conan on TBS last night, performing "Gwan," from his debut album, Half-Light. You can watch it here. He takes part in a live session on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic today. Rostam will perform at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in NYC on Wednesday and at The Growlers Six festival in LA on October 28 and will tour Europe in November.

Offa Rex (Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists) was on NPR's World Cafe. Chaney and The Decemberists' Colin Meloy were in the studio to talk with host Talia Schlanger, who calls Offa Rex a "trans-Atlantic musical love story set in harpsichord heaven," and the full band performs four songs from its debut album, The Queen of Hearts, recorded live at the XPoNential Festival. You can hear the interview and the live set here.

Sam Amidon has again teamed with director John Hardwick for a new video for "Warren," a song from his new album, The Following Mountain. Watch it here. Amidon launches an extensive tour in Seattle on Saturday, followed by shows in Portland (OR), San Francisco, LA, Boulder, Chicago, DC, NYC, Portland (ME), and more. The European tour begins in October.

Half-Light, the debut album from Rostam, known for his work in Vampire Weekend, is out now. NPR calls it "stunning ... one of the year's most arresting albums." The New Yorker says it's "a wondrous album, full of coy dreams and quiet yearning." The Daily Beast calls it "a sublime collection of baroque pop ... one of the more extraordinary records of the year." Interview says: "It's joyous and catchy, intimate and spacious, and, like its creator, exists in a musical world all its own." Rolling Stone gives it four stars. Rostam performs at Easy Street Records in Seattle on Monday and at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 27; he will tour Europe in November.

Rostam is the guest on the latest episode of the Song Exploder podcast. He talks with host Hrishikesh Hirway about "Bike Dream," breaking down the music and lyrics of the track from his debut album, Half-Light, which is out Friday on Nonesuch Records. You can hear what he has to say below, where you can watch the lyric video for "Bike Dream" as well.

Randy Newman begins a fall tour of the United States featuring music from his new album, Dark Matter, at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach tonight. The tour continues in New Jersey, upstate New York, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, before heading West to California, Oregon, and Washington. Newman has two sold-out shows at the Chicago Theatre in mid-October, then heads South to the Carolinas, Atlanta, and Florida, and will play in Austin in December.

Mandolinist/singer Chris Thile and pianist Brad Mehldau begin a five-city US tour, performing songs from their 2017 debut duo album, Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, at The Town Hall in New York City tonight. The duo is at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on Thursday, then heads to California this weekend for concerts at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles and Miner Auditorium at SFJAZZ, and a closing-night set at the Monterey Jazz Festival on Sunday.

The full line-up for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has been announced, and, as is often the case, featured among the performers are a number of artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal, including Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, Conor Oberst, and Dan Auerbach. The free, annual outdoor music festival returns for the seventeenth year to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and will take place October 6–8, 2017.

Rostam gives a quick look inside the vinyl package of his debut album, Half-Light, out next week, in a new video here. The vinyl includes the album on two discs and a fold-out poster with the album art on one side and handwritten lyrics on the other. Nonesuch Store pre-orders also come with an additional, limited-edition, autographed print and instant-downloads of six album tracks, including the just-released title track.